
A NKVV KNULANIJ SUlIAR URCIIAUI). 



A FAMILY FLIGHT 



AROUND HOME 



Rev. E. Ev hale and Miss SUSAN HALE 



BY 



Authors of "^ Family Flight through France, Germany, Norway and Switzer- 
land,'' " A Family Flight over Egypt a7id Syria," and 
'^ A Family Flight through Spain." 



FULLY ILLUSTRATED 




BOSTON 
D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 

FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS 



Copyright by 

D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 

1884 



Hi'* 



CONTENTS. 



Boston . 



Page 

CHAPTER I. 
13 



CHAPTER n. 
Old Friends together 21 

CHAPTER HI. 
In the Train 29 

CHAPTER IV. 
About Indians 38 

CHAPTER V. 
Professor Bruce 47 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Pilgrims 55 

CHAPTER VII. 
In Bed 65 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Regular Lessons 74 

CHAPTER .IX. 
An Adventure 82 

CHAPTER X. 
Molly Stark's Bonnet 89 

CHAPTER XI. 
Wild Flowers 98 

CHAPTER XII. 
A Telegram 107 



5 Contents. 

CHAP'iER XIII. 
A LITTLE History ii6 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Chime of Bells 123 

CHAPTER XV. 

French and English Campaigns 134 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Lake George 142 

CHAPTER XVn. 
Schroon Lake iS* 

CHAPTER XVI n. 
A Pond Lily Picnic 160 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Work in Earnest 168 

CHAPTER XX. 
Two Heroes 1 77 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Moving Tableaux 189 

CHAPTER XX n. 
The Revolution begun 198 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
The Declaration of Independence 206 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
The War 216 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Painting Lessons 227 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
After the War 236 

ClIAl'l'l'.R XXVI I. 
TiiK Ilotrsi', IN I HK Woods 244 



Coiitc'iits. 7 

CHAPTER XXV 11 1. 
Franklin and Lafaye ite 255 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Pirates 264 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Two Papas. 275 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
Congress 283 

CHAPTER XXXn. 
Washington's Inauguration 292 

CHAPTER XXXni. 
Sour Grapes 301 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
A Catastropii e 309 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Last Days at Utcjpia 318 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
The First Day in Boston 324 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
The Second Day 332 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
Nahant 344 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 
A Sea Bath 351 

CHAPTER XL. 
Scattering 359 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



A New England Sugar Orchard 


Boston Harbor 


14 


The Vendome. 


17 


Faneuil Hall . 


19 


Old South Church . 


20 


Enlivening an April Morning 


23 


Bunker Hill Monument . 


27 


Ornamental 


28 


Boston and Lowell Railroad 


30 


Signs of Spring 


31 


The Small Wheel . 


35 


Railroad Crossing . 


37 


Indians' Weapons . 


39 


Squaws building a Wigwam 


40 


Indian Warfare 


43 


Barricade against the Indians 


• 45 


Old Clock 


. 48 


Andirons and Cranes 


• 49 


The old Place. 


• 50 


Falls by the Road . 


• 52 


Old-fashioned Fireplace . 


• 53 


Vermont in April. 


54 


Early New England Schoolman 


ter 56 


Still Snowing . 


57 


Caravels of Columbus 


60 


First New England Washing- 




Day .... 


61 


The Mayflower 


63 


The red Schoolhouse 


67 


The Colonial Schoolmaster 


68 


Quilting Party 


71 


Collections of Coins 


73 


Mayflowers 


75 


Going after Mayflowers . 


76 


Early Settlers .... 


77 



Frontispiece 
A rude Beginning ... 78 
Larch Cones . . . .81 


The old Barn . . 

Familiarity 

The Barn Floor 


. 83 
. 84 
. 86 


At Home 


. 88 


A Puritan Daughter 


90 


Old Days and Ways 

Odd Style 

Home Manufacture. 


91 
92 
93 


Molly Stark's Bonnet 
The Bennington Trunk . 
More old Bonnets . 


94 
96 

97 


Jack-in-the-Pulpit . 
The Willow Road . 


. 98 
100 


Rhodora and fringed Polygala 
Columbines and Dog-tooth 


Id 


Violet 


105 


Giant Cornell . 


106 


Head of Lake George 


108 


The cold Heights of the Alps 
Crown Point . 


110 
III 


Logging in the Woods 


"3 


Jacques Cartier 
Ticonderoga at Sunset . 


117 
119 


On the Lake Shore . 


121 


The Chiming Waters 


124 


Indian Difficulties . 


125 


Pink Azalea . 


127 


Hubert's private Practice 


129 


Floating 


131 


Death of General Wolfe . 


^Zi 


Paul Revere's Ride . 


139 


General Braddock . 


141 



List of lUustratkms. 



Lake George . 




143 


Shelving Rock, Lake George . 


M5 


Putnam saving Fort Edward . 


147 


Blue Flag . . . . 


152 


Garrison House in Deerfield, 




Mass 


153 


Pitcher Plant . 




154 


Partridge-Berry 




■ 157 


A Bit of the Lake . 




159 


Wild Roses . 




161 


Under the Trees 




162 


Pond Lilies 




163 


Cardinals 




1(^5 


Pulling up Lilies 




167 


Professor Bruce 




169 


l-Iubert's Corner 




171 


The French Chateau 




174 


Dandelions and Buttercups 


176 


Israel Putnam. 


178 


Mrs. Bruce in her Cape Bonnt 


t 179 


Fthan Allen , 


181 


Putnam riding down the Steps 


183 


Israel Putnam's Birthplace 


^85 


One Hundred Years Ago 


186 


Reading the News . 


. 188 


Martha Washington 


190 


Pulling up Ground-pine . 


. 192 


Indians attacking a New Engl 


and 


Stage-coach. 


• 193 


Stuart's Portrait of Washingto 


n 196 


A distinguished Guest 


• ^97 


Talking it over 


• 199 


General Gage . 


201 


Minute-Man . 


202 


The North Bride at Concord 


204 


The Old r:im at Cambri 


dge 


• 205 



House where the Declaration of 
Independence was drawn up 

Autographs of Signers of the 
Declaration of Independence 



207 



>o8 



The Meadow Intervale . 
Washington crossing the De 

ware .... 
Below the Mill 
Washington at Valley Forge 
Lord Cornwallis 
Major Andre . 
The Continental Army . 
Near Saratoga 
Early Birds 
Alice's first Subjects 
Augustine cooling off 
Vignette .... 
Alice's Lilies . 
Washington at the Battlefield 
Continental Currency 
Statue of Benjamin Franklin at 

Philadelphia 
Bars at the End of the Road 
The weather-worn Homestead 
Festoons of Clematis 

Finishing Touches . 
Old Liberty Bell . 

Historical Picture . 

Benjamin Franklin . 

Franklin gardening 

Statue of Lafayette. 

One Type of Pirate. 

Watching for a Sail. 

The House fared ill during th 
wet Weather 

Old Swords 

Side Doorway. 

In the Honeysuckle 

Dashing Equipages. 

Bessie's favorite Spot 

The fringed Orchis 

The Round Tower at Newport 

Receiving distinguished Guest 

First Prayer in Congress. 



209- 

213 

215 
217 
220 
22 1 
223 
226 
229 
231 
233 
235 
237 

239 
241 

242 

245 
246 
247 

251 
256 

257 
260 
261 
262 
265 
269 

271 

272 
276 

277 

279 
280 
28 r 
282 
284 
286 



List of Illustrations. 



II 



Wool Spinning 


. 287 


Capitol at Washington . 


. 289 


Arch erected in Boston a 


t Wash- 


ington's Reception 


• 293 


Early New York 


. 296 


Washington on his Tour 


. 298 


Up River 


• 300 


Billy Brick's Brother 


• 302 


An Arrangement by AHc 


" • l^Z 


The Orchard . 


• 304 


Early Apples . 


. 306 


Sour Grapes . 


• 307 


Vignette . 


• 308 


Summer was over . 


• 3^0 


Thaler of Prussia . 


• 311 


Clematis and Creeper 


• l^?> 


The Pond 


■ 315 


Lavinia Mary . 


. 316 


Last Days 


• 319 


The House Cat 


• 3-0 


Miss Lejeune again 


• 321 


Apples from Utopia 


• 3^3 


Boston Common 


■ 325 


The State House, Beacor 


Street 327 



Dorchester Heights and the Har- 
bor 330 

The Recluse in the new Town of 
Providence . . . -331 

Alice Martin in Boston . . 7,^^ 

Equitable Building . . . 335 

City Hall, Boston . , . 337 

Pulpit Window in the Old South 
Church. . . . 340- 

Plan of the Battle of Bunker Hill, 
June 17, 1775 . . .341 

Near the Wharves . . -343. 

Samuel Adams' Statue, Washing- 
ton Street .... 345 

Gov. J. Winthrop, Scollay Square 346 

Christ Church, Salem Street . 

King's Chapel, Tremont Street 

From the Ferry Boat 

The Beach .... 

The Home of Longfellow 

Boston and Albany Depot 

Scenery by the Way 

Along the Sound 

In Connecticut 



34^ 
349 
352 
354 

355 
360 
362 
364 
365 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

CHAPTER I. 

BOSTON. 

ON the second day of last April, a hack drove rapidly up to 
the warehouses of the Cunard Steamship Company, at East 
Boston, and stopped. A boy sprang out, opening the door himself, 
and was quickly followed by a gentleman about fifty years old. 

" Is she in ? " he demanded of the little crowd of loafers stand- 
ing about. 

"Just coming up now, sir," one of them replied. 

" Ah ! then we are not late. Come, Tom ! " 

" Your umbrella, sir," said the hackman, 

" Oh, thank you, yes," replied the gentleman. " You must wait. 
Probably it will not be long now." 

Mr. Horner and his son Thomas turned and walked as fast as 
they could through the long barren extent of solid sheds used for 
the reception and storing of freight by the Cunard Company. 
There was a little crowd setting in the same direction they were 
going, for the huge steamer was already coming up the bay, — close 
at hand, indeed, for they arrived at the end of the wharf just as 
ropes were thrown out and made fast to the stout posts pre- 
pared for them. As they hurried along, however, Tom, holding 
tight upon his father's arm, said : 

"It must be rough outside. I am afraid the voyage has been 
pretty bad all the way." 

He had to hold his hat on firmly, for the wind was blowing 

13 



14 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



hard. Against the wharf waves were dashing, and the small boats 
fastened there were bumping each other and bobbing up and 
down, while out at sea white sails were scudding fast in the 

treeze. 

-A fine day to come up the harbor," said Mr. Horner. "Noth- 
ing prettier than the approach to Boston on a day like this." 

Tom Horner was now fifteen. His features were not regular; 




BOSTON HARBOR. 

his mouth, when he laughed, which was often, might be said to 
stretch from ear to ear. but his eyes were bright, and his expres- 
sion always was so animated that it did you good to look at 

him. 

.'Here we are!" he cried, "and here she is," referring tc the 
steamer, swarming with passengers, stewards, and sailors, all in a 



BOSTON. 15 

"hurry to leave the ship ; "and there is Hubert," he added, with 
more excitement, running forward, shouting and waving at some one 
he had thus quickly discovered leaning over the rail of the upper 
deck. 

It was Hubert Vaughan, much grown since the Homers had left 
him, but slight still ; for some time, he did not find these friends 
in search of whom he was anxiously scanning the group of peo- 
ple on the wharf, but after a while his face lighted up as he 
caught sight of Tom's frantic hat-waving. Mr. Horner was be- 
hind, not having made so much headway as his son, but soon 
they managed to come together close under the place where 
Hubert was, and with some difficulty, on account of the roaring 
sound of escaping steam, and all the din and confusion of such a 
scene, they managed to make themselves heard. 

"Can — you — come — down — to us.^" bellowed Tom. 

** Yes ; I think so, in a little while ! " shouted Hubert at the 
top of his lungs. "The gangway is too crowded now." 

Then they all smiled upon each other longingly, and every one 
had so much to say, that no one could think of anything suit- 
able for this shouting distance. Hubert, however, leaned over and 
said something which the others did not catch. 

"What.^" asked both the Homers. 

Hubert repeated it with no better success. 

" We don't hear what you say ! " called Tom. 

Hubert then made a mighty effort, and speaking through his 
hands, like a trumpet, said : 

" No matter ! I only said ' How do you do ' ! " 

After this futile effort at communication, it seemed best for 
all to rest their lungs ; very soon Hubert saw a chance of reach- 
ing the gangway, and, with his shawl-strap, he pushed for himself 
a passage, while his friends below watched his progress and followed 
in the same direction, in order to meet him as soon as he could 
leave the ship. They saw him stop several times to shake hands 



16 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

with fellow-passengers; and once he stopped to kiss a pretty little 
girl, about six years old, who seemed sorry to part with him. 

At last, Tom could stand it no longer, and swinging himself 
along the outside of the passage plank, by holding fast to the rail, 
he alighted on the deck of the steamer close to Hubert's shoulder, 
in the middle of the crowding passengers who were somewhat 
disturbed and displeased for a moment. 

The boys were so glad to meet, that a close grasp of the hand 
was hardly enough to express their delight. They would both of 
them been pleased to embrace, after the continental fashion, with 
a good, cordial kiss, but of course this would not do, between two 
staid young gentlemen of English descent. 

" I'm so glad to see you, old fellow," said Tom ; " here, let me 
take your bag." 

" No ; I can manage it," said Hubert, and by this time they 
were on the wharf, and Mr. Horner was looking kindly into Hubert's 
face, which brought back to him the sorrowful little fellow left 
fretting in the hotel at Madrid. 

"We must come and see about your baggage at once. It is 
baggage, Hubert, here in America. Have you much .? " 

" No ; only one rather big box, and my cabin things." 

Thanks to the friendliness of the Custom House officials, a friend- 
liness made active by Mr. Horner in a manner we need not 
describe, there was not much delay in finding and passing Hubert's 
modest possessions. 

The driver strapped the trunk on the carriage, the three friends 
entered it, Mr. Horner banged the door, and called out : 

" Now to the Vcnddme ! " and they were off. 

" I am afraid, sir, it was inconvenient for you that I came in a 
Boston steamer," said Hubert. "My father put me in charge of 
the Hungerfords, and their passage was engaged for the Samaria 
already." 

"That was all right," replied Mr. Horner, "it is perfectly easy 



BOSTON. 



19 




for us to run on to Boston, and Tom here was glad of the chance." 

"Are any of the rest here?" asked Hubert. "I want to see 
Bessie tremendously." 

"No; we left them all at home; Bessie is very anxious to see 
you, and there was Ip^"- - -"-^'-"- ' -^- -- "r^Wi 

some little talk of t I 

her coming with us, ? ^j 

but that plan fell 
through." 

" But Miss Lejeune 
is in Boston ! " said 
Tom. 

"Is she.''" cried 
Hubert, with a little 
start of delight. 
"Oh ! I am so glad!"' 

"She is staying 
here with some of 
her numerous Boston 
friends," said Mr. Horner. " I sent her a telegram inviting her to 
meet us at the hotel, so I hope we shall see her in the course 
of the day." 

It was now about lunch time. 

"How jolly!" said both the boys; then Tom exclaimed: 

" See, Hubert, that is Faneuil Hall, the ' cradle of American 
liberty ' ! " 

"Faneuil Hall," repeated Hubert, and looking at the ancient 
building with some curiosity but more indifference. 

" Hubert does not know yet enough of our history to be inter- 
ested in its landmarks," said Mr. Horner. "We must give him 
some idea of the way by which America has grown to be'" — 

He paused, to see why their carriage was stopping, and Tom 
finished his sentence grandiloquently with the words — 



FAN FAIL HALL. 



20 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



" — a great and glorious nation." 

The stop was caused only by a block in Washington street, 
close by the Old South Church. Huge drays, street cars, herdics, 
were tangled together in what seemed to be a hopeless dead-lock. 
"What a funny cab," said Hubert, "with a door 
at the back I " 

"Those are herdics," said Mr. Horner, "a sort of 
street conveyance lately introduced and much in use 
in Boston. They are not half so nice as hansoms," 
" But have you no hansoms ? " exclaimed Hubert. 
"Very few," answered Mr. Horner. "In our Amer- 
ican cities, and especially in Boston, the streets are 
-^ so taken up with the rails of the street cars that it 

would be almost, impos- 
sible for hansoms to 
dash about as thc-y do 
in London.'" 

They were now dis- 
entangled, and soon 
were driving along by 
the Common, and after- 
wards the Public Gar- 
den, large open spaces 
pleasantly laid out with 
trees, but still dreary 
looking, without the first 
Z^ sign of spring. Patches 
tfB^^ of dirty snow still lin- 
gered on the north side 
of the streets. 

Hubert was much surprised. When he left England, a fortnight 
before, the plum-trees were in blossom, crocuses and wall-flowers 
were ])rofusc in gardens, and the grass green everywhere. 





OI.I) XII'TII CHURCH. 



OLD FKltNDa TO«jETHER. 



21 



CHAPTER II. 



OLD FRIENDS TOGETHER, 



AS Mr. Horner, followed by the two boys, passed through the 
large vestibule of the Hotel Vendome, a servant stepped 
forward and handed him a visiting card, up)on a tray. 

"The lady is waiting, sir," he said, "in the drawing-room." 
Mr. Homer, smiling, showed the card to Hubert, who read upon 
it the name : 




-Miss Lejeune had been tor some time in the handsomely fur- 
nished parlor of the hotel, inspecting the very good engravings on 
the walls. The furniture was new and handsome. The carpet was 
soft, and of quiet tones. A few books were scattered upon the 
centre-table, an open fire burned in the grate. A melancholy, soli- 
tary woman, travelling by herself from Xova Scotia to Manitoba, 
sat in a window, holding a book, but not even pretending to read. 
She was looking out upon the street, but the prospect was as 
dreary outside as in, large flakes of snow falling, accompanied by 
a drizzling rain, the sidewalks wet. and only a few pedestrians 
passing. A hand-organ was droning away in Commonwealth Avenue. 



22 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

Miss Lejeune turned to put a damp foot upon the fender, and 
continued to study the apartment in the large mirror over the 
mantelpiece before her 

"Every hotel," she reflected, "should employ a decayed gentle- 
woman to come in and out of the parlors at intervals, with work 
in her hand, and an air of being at home. She might put down 
a newspaper on the table, and then go away again. It would not 
cost much to pay her, besides her room and board, and would be 
an excellent enployment for some deserving" — 

Her philanthropic scheme was disturbed by the sound of voices, 
and she saw Tom and Hubert and Mr. Horner coming from the 
hall. 

"Hubert! Hubert \"aughan ! What's this.-*" exclaimed Miss 
Lejeune. "Is it really you.' Where did you come from.'*" 

She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked earnestl}' in 
his face. Then the recollection of their sad parting at Gibraltar 
overcame her, filling her eyes with tears. She stoopeci and kissed 
him, for Hubert was not yet quite so tall as Miss Lejeune, 
though Tom was well above her in height. 

Mr. Horner stood by enjoying her surprise. He had purposely, 
in his telegram to her, omitted all explanations, and she had no 
idea why he came to Boston at this time. 

" Time enough for explanations later," he said cheerily, as he 
shook hands with her. "Augusta, you look younger than evei'. 
Boston agrees with you." 

" This climate does not," she replied. " Look at this weather. 
It has been just like this for six weeks. It does nothing but 
snow." 

" Come and lunch with us," said Mr. Horner, " for we are as 
hungry as bears, are we not, boys.-*'" 

After a good lunch, during which they all talked at once, re- 
calling Madrid memories, and the delights of Toledo, the boys 
were sent off to explore Boston by themselves, for Hubert pro- 




ENLIVENING AN APRIL MORNING. 



OLD FRlEXUb TOGETHER. 25 

tested he was up to it. He had borne the voyage \er\ well, 
with only a few days' sickness at first, and felt now perfectly 
well, with the exception of a little giddy feeling in his head, for 
which walking would be the best cure. He had had a fairly 
good passage, up to the last, when the steamer was greeted by a 
rough reception off our coast. 

" And now let me hear what this means," said Miss Lejeune, 
when she and Mr. Horner were cosily seated, in a small private 
parlor, before a cannel-coal fire, little cups of black coffee beside 
them. 

•■ Mav I have my cigar?" he asked. 

" By all means, but begin. " 

*• Well,"' he said, with half a laugh. '* history repeals itself, you 
know. Xot longer ago than yesterdav, I received a letter from 
Colonel Vaughan. The boys, you know, exchange letters regu- 
larly." 

"I think," interrupted Miss Lejeune, ''that the Colonel has 
acquired the impression that you are responsible for Hubert for 
the rest of his life."' 

Mr. Horner shrugged his shoulders, and went on. 

" He is ordered to India again, whatever that means, and it has 
occurred to him that Hubert would nowhere be so happy as with 
us ; suddenly finding that certain friends were to sail at once for 
Boston, on this Samaria, he pops Hubert into the steamer with 
them, pops a letter in the bo.x for me, saying he has done so. 
ft roila tout .' " 

"Well, well," said Miss Augusta, using her favorite means of 
comment. " But he must sav something else ; what does he want, 
does he mean the boy to be hanging upon you always.'" 

'•There's always plenty of money, you know." said Mr. Horner. 
" Colonel Vaughan makes that clear in the letter. He simply says 
in addition, that he would like Hubert — • to gain some knowledge 
of America and American histor\', a subject which at present 



W A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 

more than ever interests or should interest Englishmen while it 
is one upon which in general they are singularly ignorant.' " 

Mr. Horner as he talked had pulled the letter of Colonel 
Vaughan from his pocket, and he now read the last sentence from 
it. 

"Very true," remarked Miss Augusta. "Now what are you going 
to do about it ? " 

" That's what we expect you to say," replied Mr. Horner. 
" You see we received this letter only yesterday, and that by good 
luck, as it came in a fast steamer, while the Samaria is slow." 

" Is not she, though ! " commented Miss Lejeune. 

" I read the letter at dinner last evening." continued Mr. Horner. 
■" There was not much time for consultation. Tom and I took 
the night train ; breakfasted here ; were told the Samaria would be 
up about ten o'clock; we drov^e to East Boston, and just arrived 
in the nick of time. Meanwhile, I have been revolving schemes 
in my head, as we came in the train, and only want to consult 
you about some good summer plan for these boys. Have you 
one of your ideas, Augusta .-" " 

"Not yet," she replied musingly, "but I feel that there is a 
glimmer of one in the back of my head." 

" There's no hurry," said Mr. Horner, " let it work. What I 
am thinking of is no new plan, but one which Hubert's coming 
develops and helps, that is. that my own children are better in- 
formed upon the historv of any other country than their own ; 
and that a summer might be spent very profitably as well as 
pleasantly by I'om, and even Bessie, in looking about them a lit- 
tle here in New ICngland." 

"Quite so," assented Miss Lejeune. "Take Boston now, Tom is 
showing Hubert the lions, but does he know the lions, and how 
to make them growl .' " 

" I doubt," replied Mr. Horner with a smile ; " we shall see, how- 
ever, what they re])()rt." 



OLD FRIENDS TOGETHER. 



27 




" Let US go to the theatre 
this evening," said Miss Lejeune. 
"And now tell me what you ^p 
hear from the Hervevb. " " ^ 

"Perfectly happy/' replied Mr. 
Horner, "and I judge, from the 
letters, that Mary is perfectly- 
well. The winter at Pau was 
just the thing for her, and I 
am glad she escaped our trying 
one here. I hoped they might 
be coming home this spring ; 
but Hervey writes to urge our 
■coming to them." 

"And do you think" — asked 
Miss Augusta. 

" Not for a moment," said 
Mr. Horner, holding up his hands 
to prevent even the mention of 
another foreign tour. " My wife 
is so happy in her own house, 
that she will not listen to any- 
thing but a New England sum- 
mer, and as we can hardly stay 
in New York through the hot 
weather, you see we must in- 
vent some plan." 

While they were thus talking, 
the boys returned, in good spirits, but tired and glad to rest, as 
indeed they might be. for with the courage of youth, they had 
walked over to Charlestown, to inspect Bunker Hill Monument. 

"Why, Tom, we do not consider it the height of politeness to 
take an Englishman there the first thing." 




BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 



28 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AliOUNU HOME. 



"I know," said Tom, "but I could not think of anything else 
to show him, and we wanted a <;ood long walk. They invited us- 
to go to the top, but as there would be no view in this weather,. 
we decided to follow aunt Dut's practice, and stay below." 

Hubert asked a question which showed that he still knew but 
little of what every child in America is familiar with, — the story 
of the famous Battle (on June 17, i775, of Bunker Hill. 

" I believe, sir, 1 understand it now, only I do not think I quite 
know whom Tom means by the British." 

The rest tried not to laugh, but it was not a successful effort. 
When Hubert saw this, he blushed furiously, but Mr. Horner said : 

"Always own up your ignorance, my boy, and you will soon get 
over it. ' British ' means subjects of Great Britain ; when the 
quarrel began between the American colony and the government 
at home, the word British was generally used. So we keep to it 
now, in referring to that time, though not much otherwise." 

After which Mr. Horner added : 

'* Tom, 1 dare say, is not well grounded in his country's early 
history ; we must try to work it u):)." 




IN THE TRAIN. 29 



CHAPTER III. 



IN THE TRAIN. 



BOSTON and Lowell ! " shouted the conductor of a street car, 
rattling the sliding door as he opened it with a bang. Out 
swarmed the passengers, — an old woman with a basket, a stout 
man with a bundle, a lawyer with his blue bag. Last of all, with 
shawl-straps and travelling bags, came Mr. Horner, Miss Lejeune, 
Tom and Hubert. All these persons passed into the large and 
handsome hall belonging to the station of the Boston and Lowell 
railroad. 

It was cold and chilly, but not raining or snowing now. 

" I believe you will have lovely weather," said Miss Lejeune. 

" Change your mind, Augusta, and come with us," said Mr. 
Horner, coming back to the group with a handful of tickets for 
Wells River Junction and beyond. 

" Oh, do, aunt Dut, come with us ! " said Tom, and Hubert 
looked it. 

" My dear, I have a lunch and a dinner to-day, both made for 
me, and am knee-deep in engagements all the week. It was only 
by Special Providence that I could give you yesterday." 

" And by Special Heroism that you came to see us off so 
early," said Mr. Horner. 

" I had to see the last of you," she replied cheerfully. " I shall 
try to break off here in order to be at home before you are, 
and learn the result of your pioneer expedition." 

" Come, papa, they are all going to the train," said Tom. 

They left Miss Lejeune hastily, who did not follow them to 



30 



A FAMILY FLKJHT AROUND HOME. 



the cold, bleak platform where a long row of cars was standing, 

"Be sure and come to New York to meet us!" called Hubert, 
as he ran after the other two. 

" You have no umbrellas ! " exclaimed Miss Lejeune at the last 
moment. 

Mr. Horner stopped, dismayed. 

" Mine is at the hotel ! " cried he. 

"Never mind," was her ready answer. "I will find it. Go on!" 




IJOSTON AND LOWELL RAILROAD. 



And so she did ; but it would have been better placed during 
the ne.xt few days in the hands of its owner. 

This was Hubert's first experience of American cars. He thoui;ht 
it very funny to enter at the end of a long passage-way, 
with a series of double scats on each side, instead of the short 




Sir.NS OF SPRING. 



IN THE TRAIN". 33 

one, at right angles with the track, of most European compart- 
ments. 

" How do you like it ? " asked Tom, as they settled themselves 
by turning over the back of one seat, so that all of them 
could be together, and heaping their possessions in the vacant 
corner. 

"Very much," said Hubert, "for Miss Lejeune has just been 
reminding me that I must like things as they are, and not think 
ill of them, because they are different to what I am accustomed." 

"That is her favorite philosophy," said Mr. Horner. 

"And all because Hubert said a hansom was better than a 
horse-car!" cried Tom. 

" It is jolly," he added, " to have you with us, Hubert, for it 
makes us look at this from a travelling point of view." 

They passed out over one of the long bridges which enclose 
Boston like a network on its water sides. It was a pretty, ani- 
mated scene ; the sun trying to break through the clouds lighted 
the water and tinted the smoke and steam from numerous tall 
chimneys. The monument on Bunker Hill looked more dignified 
at a distance than close under it, the boys thought. Many trains 
were darting in and out of their several stations. It seemed as 
if they must dash into each other; the engines shrieked as if in 
fear of collisions, but no such thing happened. Theirs was an 
express train and very soon was sweeping through the open 
country, freed from suburban streets, and cheap, squalid-looking 
houses, pa.st fields, rusty and sere, with here and there a trace of 
spring. As they went farther north, there was more snow on the 
ground ; only a few catkins of willow and alder were visible. 

Tom's grandmother lived in Keene, N. H., and there he, as a 
little boy, had passed many a happy week in her house. This 
was his maternal grandmother. Mr. Horner's people came from 
Vermont ; and he had spent his earliest years in the little town 
of Utopia, far away in the northern part of the State. The family 



34 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



home there, however, had long been broken up, and its members 
scattered. Nobody dared to say how many years it was smce Mr. 
Horner had visited the place, although he had it always on his 
mind to do so, until now, when he was moved to take the boys 
on a little trip to survey the ground, hoping to find some pleas- 
ant resting-place for the summer, where all the family, or a part 
of them, might settle down. It was rather vague, for Hubert had 
suddenly come upon his American friends before they had begun 
to think of summer plans. 

As the train swept through Lowell and Lawrence, busy manu- 
facturing cities on the Merrimac, and afterwards Manchester, m the 
lower part of New Hampshire, Mr. Horner reminded the boys that 
the wonderful evidence of civiUzed industry they saw was the 
growth of but one century. 

One hundred years ago, no manufacturing villages were to be 
found in all New England. Beavers built their dams unmolested 
along the banks of streams since crowded with mills and factories, 
each" one of which finds work now for more men and women than, 
until the end of the eighteenth century, made up the population 
of the largest country town in America. 

One hundred years ago Lawrence was a mere handful of houses; 
Manchester was no better. When the census was taken in 1820, 
the country around Lowell was a wilderness where sportsmen shot 
game. The falls which now furnish power to innumerable looms 
were all unused, and the two hundred sole inhabitants of the town 
found their support in the sturgeon and alewives taken from the 
waters of the Concord and the Merrimac. 

At that time no manufactories could be said to exist with the 
exception of a few mills for making paper, scarce so good in quality 
as that grocers are now accustomed to wrap around pounds of 
sugar and tea ; a foundry or two where iron was melted into rude 
,;igs, or beaten into bars of iron ; or a factory where cocked-hats 
and felts were made. 



IN THE TRAIN. 



35 



As for cotton manufacture, the first cotton mill was not erected 
in New England at the time the Constitution was formed. The 
place now held by cotton fabrics was filled by linen spun at every 
farmer's hearth. To spin well was then esteemed an accoraplish- 




THE SMALL WHEEL. 



ment, like playing on the piano, or painting china at present, and 
every damsel of the old time was proud to excel in it. The 
" spinning bee " was once the fashion among the rich ; it continued 
in vogue in many country towns when the ladies of the great 



36 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 



cities had deserted the wheel for the harpsichord and the spinet. 
The bee was generally held in the town hall; but if the village 
was not prosperous enough to contain such a building, the house 
of some minister was chosen. Thither the women went with their 
spinning-wheels and flax, and as they spun were brought cake and 
wine by the fine gentlemen of the town. 

All this spinning is done away with by the introduction of 
machinery, and flax and linen have yielded for most household 
purposes to cotton and cotton goods. 

"Did you ever see a spinning-wheel.?" Mr. Horner asked of 
Hubert. Hubert was doubtful. 

"Aunt Augusta has one," answered Tom, "in a corner of her 
parlor, all tied up in blue ribbon like a pet dog." 

"I fancy she would be puzzled to know how to use it. That 
used to be called the small wheel." 

"Oh! I know," cried Hubert. -I have seen them on the stage 
in 'Martha,' the opera, I mean." 

Mr. Horner said, " I remember another kind with a much larger 
wheel, not uncommon when I was a boy; at which the pretty 
spinner had to stand instead of sitting. We must try to find one 

in Vermont." 

"Was the spinner always pretty, sir.?" asked Tom. "I imagined 

them old women." 

" As the fashion grew old, the spinners did, I suppose," replied 
his father. "The young ladies would not learn, but the old ones 
did not give it up. Lately, the fashion of collecting old things 
has been so general, that garrets and barns all through New Eng- 
land have been pretty thoroughly ransacked, and, as you say, small 
spinning-wheels have come out of their cobwebby corners to be 
ornaments to modern drawing-rooms." 

More and more snow covered the landscape as our travellers 
went farther north ; and when they came to Lake Winnepesaukee 
horses and sleighs were driving merrily across the lake on the 



IN THE TRAIN. :]7 

ice. Hubert could not believe it. "On the ice!" he cried. "It 
looks like all the rest of the country." 

He had never seen so much snow in his life ; and as the ice 
of the lake was covered with a white enfolding sheet of it, no one 
could have distinguished between underlying land and water, except 
that here and there men were fishing through holes cut in the 
ice, below which was revealed the black water of the lake. 

At noon they reached Wells River Junction, and after that 
crossed the Connecticut River, and leaving New Hampshire, passed 
into the State of Vermont. The country was very beautiful, even 
at that barren season ; certainly it was at least to the eyes of Tom 
and his father, familiar with the roughness of American scenery. 
To Hubert's unspoken judgment, the heaped-up stone-walls, ragged 
root fences, small wooden houses, wide, desolate tracks of burnt- 
over land, little fulfilled the boast of progress and civilization of 
which Mr. Horner had been speaking. 




fMSTf^^^^"" 



F' )^ 



38 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ABOUT INDIANS. 



THE Indian names of places were puzzling to Hubert, and he 
entirely declined trying to remember how Winnepesaukee 
was spelt. Tom assured him that there were much worse ones 
down in Maine, such as " Pamedemcook Lake" and " Ambajem- 
ackoraas Carry." Hubert asked if they were likely to see any 
Indians upon this journey. 

"Not one," replied Mr. Horner. "You must travel much farther 
West or North to find any of them. Pretty much the only trace 
of them here is to be found in the names they gave to lake and 
mountain, and arrow-heads which are still dug up occasionally. 
Specimens of their weapons are preserved in historical collections. 
Yet until the first white colonists settled in America, the Indians- 
had the whole of the country to themselves, roaming about, living 
upon game of which the forests were full, for the arrows of the 
Indians made no such wholesale destruction of animals as our 
modern weapons." 

"What fun to have been here then!" cried Hubert; "just 
fancy an Indian all war-paint, behind that tree, for instance!" 

"Brrrr!" said Tom, shivering, "I'm glad he is not, though!" 

Time and absence from the early Indian have softened so 
much the general impression of his character, novels and legends 
have invested it with so much romance, that he has become 
an ideal sort of creature of romantic and attractive qualities. 
We are no longer in danger of being tomahawked in New Eng- 
land. An Indian in his paint and feathers is a rarer show than. 



ABOUT INDIANS. 



39 



a white elephant. We are therefore more disposed to pity than 
to hate. But one hundred years ago, there were few men who 
had no reason to hate the Indians, and there were thousands 
whose cattle had been driven off, whose homes had been laid in 
ashes by the braves of the Six Nations, who had fought with 
them from behind rocks and trees, whose women had fled at the 




INDIAN WEAPONS. 



dead of night from cabins set on fire by these relentless enemies. 

Before the arrival of white people in America, the Indians, 

without fire-arms, and without whiskey, which had a fatal influence 



40 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



upon the disposition of the race, possessed, doubtless, many inter- 
esting traits of character. 

The Indian was essentially a child of nature. His life was one 
long struggle, for his daily food depended on the skill with which 




SQUAWS BUILDING A WIGWAM. 



he used his bow, on the courage with which he fought fierce 
beasts, on the quickness with which he tracked, and the cunning 
with which he outwitted the timid, keen-scented animals of the 
forest. The clearness of his vision, and the sharpness of liis 
hearing were wonderful by which he followed an obscure trail 
over diflficult ground ; with a cat-like tread, over beds of fallen 
leaves and heaps of dried twigs, walking close up to the grazing 
deer. Courage and fortitude in bodily suffering he possessed to 
a high degree ; yet he was given to the dark and crooked way.s 
which belong to the weak and cowardly. His favorite method of 
warfare was to rouse his sleeping enemies at dead of night with 
an unearthly yell, to massacre them by the light of their burning 



ABOUT INDIANS. 41 

homes. Cool and brave men who have heard that whoop, have 
testified that no number of repetitions could strip it of its terror; 
that at the sound of it the blood curdled, the heart ceased to 
beat, and a sort of paralysis seized upon the body. Roused, and 
on the war-path, the savage was all activity. He would march all 
day through the snow, heedless of intense cold, and at night, 
rolled in buffalo robes, go hungry to sleep. But when the 
war was done, he liked to sleep all day in a wigwam of painted 
skins, blackened with smoke, decorated with scalps, and hung 
with tomahawks and arrows, singing, laughing and dancing at night 
in the moonlight. He made his squaw do all the work. It was 
Starlight or Cooing Dove that brought the wood for his fire and 
the water for his drink ; that ploughed the field, and sowed the 
maize, and adorned his moccasins with bright embroidery and 
bead work. When he travelled, she trudged along behind with the 
pappoose on her back. 

The minds of the Indians were as crude as their characters, 
with strong imaginations, and but little reasoning power. They 
were full of superstitions, and the simplest things that happened, 
were to them fraught with meaning. If they were sick, some 
enemy had caused the malady, and the medicine man came and 
cured it by pretending to take out of the patient a toad, or a 
bright stone. Gay colors pleased them greatly, and the early 
settlers could barter with a handful of glittering beads, or a bright 
blanket, for a bundle of skins many times more valuable, or a 
hundred bushels of corn. 

It was natural that the Indians should resist the encroachments 
of a civilization so different from their own as that of the whites ; 
but their mode of warfare, with which, doubtless, they had dealt 
with each other for generations, was most horrible, and a grave 
impediment in the way of the early settlers of New England. 

In the beginning, the colonists meant to keep on the right side 
of the Indians, though it is very likely that injustice was often 



42 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

done. There were men among the Puritans who were always 
trying to do good to them, and to secure peace by gentle 
methods. "The Apostle" Eliot, as he was called, devoted himself 
to making a translation of the Bible into their language. But 
after fighting had begun, the only course for the white settlers 
was one of self-defence, and for long years the struggle con- 
tinued. 

When first visited by Europeans, the Indians were said to be 
already decreasing in numbers, through their wars among them- 
selves, and through diseases they were too ignorant to check. 
They have been diminishing ever since, although to this day 
settlements of the United States, in the far West, still live in 
constant fear of attacks from Indian tribes. But there are many 
children in New England who have never seen a real Indian, and 
none have heard the dreadful war whoop. 

About noon, the conductor came to Mr. Horner to say that 
the train would shortly after stop over half an hour at Ellville, 
and that there, as he expressed it, " would be as good a chance 
as any to get some dinner." This was a joyful sound to the 
boys, who had breakfasted early ; they were already on the plat- 
form when the engine stopped, and jumped out with alacrity, to- 
find themselves facing the broad street of a considerable town,. 
with brick sidewalks, blocks of houses and shops. The conductor 
showed them about forty rods off the sign " Hotel," placed over 
a doorway, assuring them there would be ample time for dinner, 
besides going and returning. It was snowing fast, and the mud 
was miles deep, according to Tom's description. 

"Now would be the time for your umbrella, papa," said he. 

"Alas, yes," replied Mr. Horner; "Hubert, how comes it that 
you, an English boy, are without an umbrella.''" 

"They are not much in use in riil)raltar, sir," he promptly re- 
plied. 

\W this time they were wading through the mud, crossing the 




INDIAN WARFARE. 



ABOUT INDIANS. 



45- 



Street ; a few planks placed for passengers, were sunk deep in 
the mire, but gave a clue to the right direction, and on landing 
on the opposite side, they found themselves directly in front of 
the hotel, where a waiter was ringing a clamorous bell of invita- 
tion. They ran up-stairs, and entered a large, clean dining-room, 







BARRICADE AGAINST THE INDIANS. 

where several people, passengers in the same train with themselves, 
were bolting their food, having already finished their soup. 

" How in the world did they get here so quickly," murmured 
Tom, as his party seated themselves, and shook out their nap- 
kins. A plate of hot soup was promptly placed before each, by 
a pretty girl with " banged " hair who pronounced at the same time 
the following sentence, or single word, for it sounded like only 
one : 



46 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

" Roastbeefdinnerpiechickenandporktripe." 

"Say it again, please," said Tom, "and a little slower." 
When she had repeated it, he said: "Bring it all except the 

tripe." 

The food was excellent, and well-cooked. Hubert was puzzled by 
the little tubs set around his plate containing all kinds of vegetables, 
tomato and apple-sauce; but he was warned to waste no time. 
This course was followed by a choice of several kinds of pie. 

By the time they had finished, with all possible expedition, 
every one but themselves had left the place. The pretty waitress, 
though she said there was plenty of time, looked anxiously at 
the clock. 

"Come, boys," said Mr. Horner, taking his hat. "I will go 
first and pay, but do not delay!" 

Fifty cents apiece was expected for the dinner, which was fully 
worthy of that price. 

They hurried back to their seats in the train, and had just five 
minutes to spare before it started. 

"So that's an American Fonda!" cried Hubert, whose spirits 
were now rising to their usual level. Poor boy, the novelty of 
the scene, the fatigue of the voyage, and the sense of being a 
stranger in a strange land, were indeed enough to make him 
reserved and silent ; but the kindness of the Homers was irresisti- 
ble, and he was beginning to feel the relief of being among true 
friends after the comparative solitude of the last ten days on the 

steamer. 

"Yes," cried Tom, "shall you ever forget the time we all 
tumbled out in the night, and bought knives.?" 

"It does not look much like Spain outside," said Mr. Horner. 
The snow was falling more thickly than ever, and the sky was 
dark and lowering. After a few hours they reached East Utopia, 
their destination for that day, and went at once to the hotel 
opposite the station. 



PKOFESbOK BRUCE. 47 



CHAPTER V. 



PROFESSOR BRUCE. 



THE hotel at East Utopia was a modern affair, built of wood, 
and painted white. The public parlor, into which our friends 
were shown, up one flight, was a square room, containing a stove, 
a piano, a marble-topped centre-table, a sofa as hard as the Rock 
of Dundas, and two good rocking-chairs. The carpet on the floor 
was gaudy with huge roses ; the paper shades in the windows 
were decorated with festoons of flowers, coarsely painted. On some 
bookshelves in a corner were several odd volumes of Congress- 
ional Documents, and a Bible. The paint was clean and fresh ; 
everything looked neat, new, but stern and uncompromising. The 
days have gone by of old, large, hospitable fireplaces with com- 
modious chimney corners. The tall clocks of colonial times have 
been first relegated to garrets, then removed to bric-a-brac shops, 
and now, burnished and polished, stand in halls of modern houses, 
which, by a freak of fashion, represent better the life of two cen- 
turies ago, than any really old interior. Even if the old house 
be standing, its huge, square chimney has been torn down, to 
give way to smaller flues, more economical of fuel. Andirons, 
roasting-jacks and cranes have gone up with the chimneys. A 
real old-fashioned kitchen would be hard to find in New England 
to-day. The best way to get an idea of such relics is through 
pictures and reproductions. 

So the room of the new hotel seemed bare and forlorn ; but a 
man came in with short logs which he popped into tlie stove, 
and in a few moments a crackling, snapping sound came from 



48 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



them, which was by no means cheerless; a bright glow shone 
through the little isinglass-covered openings of the stove door, and 

a genial heat spread itself about in an 
incredibly short space of time. 

" These Yankees know what they are 
about," said Mr. Horner, as he warmed 
his hands ; " an old-fashioned fireplace 
consumed twice the amount of wood 
without warming half the space." 

A cheery voice was heard below, and 
then somewhat heavy steps on the stairs ; 
the door opened, and a gentleman, whom 
the boys considered old, entered. 

"Ha! Horner, is this you .^ Well,. 
I'm afraid I should not have known- 
you." 

" Mr. Bruce, this is very kind of you,. 
to come over in such weather. I should 
know you anywhere, sir. You look 
younger than you did twenty years ago."' 

" Come, Horner, none of your jokes. 
I'm an old man, sir, yes, an old man. 
But here are the young ones ; which 
is yours.''" 

" Tom," said the father, " this is my 
old schoolmaster, Professor Bruce. The 

first time he saw me, I was about your 

>> 
age. 

"Why, Thomas, how arc you .-' " said 

the old man, shaking hands cordially. 

And from that time ever afterwards he 




OLD CLOCK. 



called him nothing hut Thomas. 

"And this is Hubert Vaughan, a you 



ncf Enfrlish friend of 



PKOFESSOR BRUCE. 



49 



ours, who has come over to learn something about America." 

" You thought you would give him a lesson in climate, first, 
hey.-'" asked Mr. Bruce. "This weather is rather rough, even for 
us, but it can't last, — it can't last." 

He sat down and rubbed his hands before the stove, kicked off 
his India rubbers, and loosened the knit comforter from his neck. 

Mr. Horner sat down near him, and then between the two, to 
the amusement of Hubert and the amazement of Tom, there began 
a series of questions and answers about old friends, companions of 
Mr. Horner's youth, of whom Tom had never heard in his life 
up to this moment. 

"Well, Horner, your mother is dead, and your father, too. Let's 
see, how long is it since you were here .■* " 

" Seventeen years, sir. You know, after my father's death, my 
mother came down and lived with us; and so many of the old 
folks were gone from here, there has been no real object in a 
visit to the old place." 

"Abraham is living, you know, ami \(un- aunt Ittsty's second 
husband, he is still residing here." 

"How is Susan ."^ " asked Mr. 
Horner. 

" Let's see, she is your father's 
niece ; Susan Jones ; why, she's 
married and living in Minnesota." 

And so on, and so on, till the 
boys grew weary of the catalogue, 
and slipped away. It seemed to 
them as if nearly everybody were 
dead, or married and gone West. 

" I wonder who is alive in the 
place!" exclaimed Tom, as he and 
Hubert wandered off to explore the house, and to inspect the 
weather, in case there were a chance of going out. Thick mud 




ANDIRONS AND CRANFS. 



50 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



in the village street, encrusted in a kind of frosting of new snow 
like wedding-cake, forbade this scheme. Meanwhile the gentlemen 
talked on, never weary of old reminiscences. 

Mr. Horner had been fitted for college at Montpelier, Vt., 




THE OLD PLACE. 

by Professor Bruce, in his charge, and boarding in hi.s family. 
This life of several years made them intimate, and a friendship 
was formed of the lasting sort, which comes from true respect and 
gratitude on the part of the younger man, and affectionate appro- 
bation on the older one's side. The difference in years was not 
excessive; for Mr. Bruce was but a young man just graduated 
when he began his career as a schoolmaster. He was now some- 
what over sixty. He married, in early life, a Utopia girl, a cousin 
in fact of the Horncrs, and as on the death of her parents she 
inherited a comfortable little property, Mr. Bruce then bought the 
whole Horner estate, with its old-fashioned house, large barns, and 



PROFESSOR BRUCE. 51 

ample farms; and thus it came about that he was now occupying 
the homestead where Mr. Horner was born, and where he and 
his brothers and sisters passed the happy days of their youth. 

Mrs. Bruce never had any children ; Mr. Horner remembered 
her as a delightful little woman. As soon as he thought of the 
plan of coming into Vermont with the boys, he wrote to Mr. 
Bruce to inform him of it ; and the genial old gentleman harnessed 
up in spite of the weather, and drove into town from the farm, 
which was three miles distant from East Utopia, the nearest sta- 
tion on the railway. 

Mr. Bruce stayed to the early "meat-tea" of the hotel, an 
ample meal of nice beefsteak, baked potatoes, real cream and 
sweet, fresh butter. Then he drove away in his buggy with the 
old white mare, Lucy. 

" Get up, Lucy ! get up ! " said he, as he took the reins and 
shook them on her back. " Cl'k ! cl'k!" 

The leisurely starting of the excellent animal gave him ample 
time to say,, as he poked his head out of the side of the buggy : 

" Seems Hke better sleighing than wheeling, Horner. Guess you'd 
better tell them to send you over on runners ! " 

It was snowing more vigorously than ever. It had been agreed 
between the gentlemen that it was best for the Horner party to 
spend the night at the hotel, where they were, and to drive next 
morning to Utopia, about three miles "over the mountain," as the 
natives called it. A beautiful road which Mr. Horner well re- 
membered. 

The boys of course longed to go on runners, and were delighted 
next morning with the verdict of the master of horses, that there 
was "about as much sleddin' as wheelin' anyway, and always 
plenty of snow on the mountain." 

The sun, for a wonder, seemed trying to break through the clouds 
as they all emerged from the house, well buttoned up in great 
-coats ready for an early start. Their driver, the owner of the team. 



52 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



composed of two stout black horses, was encased in a warm coat 
of coarse yellow fur. Thick leather boots were drawn up over his 
trousers, and he had a fur cap on his head. 

Mr. Horner and Hubert were packed in on the back seat of a 




KAI.LS BY THE ROAD. 



wide sleigh, with a buffalo robe to sit on, and a buffalo robe over 
their knees, tucked in closely about them. Tom was stowed away 
on the front seat next the driver ; two huge umbrellas were placed 



PKOFESSOK BKUCE. 



53 



in the vehicle, one for each seat ; the small travelling effects of 
the party were underneath. 

And so with cheerful good-bys to the host and several assistants 
who were by to see them off, the team started. 

At the very outset, a steep ascent was to be made, and this 
was more mud than snow. About half-way up, the sleigh was stuck 
fast, and for a moment it seemed doubtful if they could get on. 

" I don't know but we shall have to give it up ! " said Brick, 
the driver; but he jumped out into the mud, and by coaxing the 
horses, and pulling at their mouths, he persuaded them to a part 
of the hill where the ruts were not so deep. Once at the top, 
they found themselves better off, and soon were gliding over almost 
unbroken snow, in a lovely wood road. On each side tall trees 
rose, and behind them huge rocks. Streams rippled along down 
the hillsides, wetting ferns, which, evergreen the winter through, 




()LI)-KASHIONF.D FIREPLACE. 



overhung their borders ; birds were singing, the air was soft, and 
seemed to promise spring, though spring had not arrived. 

" How lovely it must be here in summer ! " cried Tom. " It is 
like the road under West Mountain, at Keenc, papa!" 



54 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"There used to be a crow's nest in the top of that tree," said 
his father, "and here is where I fell off the rock once, twenty 
feet down." He was full of reminiscences of his boyhood, which 
all came back to him vividly, on returning to the spot where they 
were enacted. 




VERMONT IN APRIL. 



THE PILGRIMS. 55 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE PILGRIMS. 



IT was but three miles to their destination, and where the sleigh- 
ing was good in the woods, they slipped rapidly over the 
ground. Soon after passing some lovely falls and rapids, they began 
to approach the little village of Utopia. 

Mr. Horner exclaimed : 

"There's the house! there's my old home! Do you see it, 
boys .-• ' ' 

It was conspicuously placed on high land, which fell off rapidly 
behind the house to the level of the Connecticut. This river here 
flowed through a broad valley, in a shallow bed, now encumbered 
not only with ice, but logs, which had floated on the water from 
some place higher up. 

Mr. Bruce was awaiting them on the broad flat doorstep, as the 
party drove up. They all stopped to look at the wide view down 
the Connecticut valley. 

" So that is New Hampshire ! " said Tom. 

"Yes; we are just on the boundary," said the old gentleman; 
"but come in, come in! Mrs. Bruce is waiting for you, and it is 
cold outside." 

Good Mr. Brick, dismissed with a friendly good-by, and a suitable 
sum in his pocket, now drove off down the hill. 

The others entered the house, where Mrs. Bruce was standing 
at the door of a large room. She was a little bit of a woman, 
with gray hair that had once been yellow, smoothly put away 
under a cap ; she was wrapped up in a knit shawl, and she shiv- 



58 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AHOUND HOME. 



ered as she urged them to come in. The room was nice and 
warm from the heat of the inevitable wood stove 

Every one sat down for a few minutes; but Mr. Horner, with 
all the .mpatience of a boy, wanted to see the old house; and 
with Mrs. Bruce s permission, they went all over it from garret to 
k, Chen, pausing to look at the extens.ve views from every window, 
wh.ch, fine even at that season, promised to be beautiful in 
summer. 

The hope of the early morning, that pleasant weather was coming, 
faded ; before noon snow began to fall, and when the mid-day din- 




EARLY Ntw i:n<;la.\d schoolmaster. 



ner was over, a storm as heavy as that of the evening before was 

'::%:;, " ^-^^ ^--"^^ '° ""-^ °^ ^°-^ -^ '-° <^e mud a: 

be 1 '"""' "' ""'^- '"'" '"^ "^'■-^' Which proved 

be the most attract.vc room i„ the house. Here, to the delight 



"^{■i 'liilt', 



*5I , 




"^■^ ir- V 



STILL SNOWING. 



THE PIL(iRIMS. 59 

of our city friends, was an open fire of logs. The walls of the 
room were lined on all sides with shelves, crammed with books, 
books, books ; old, modern, shabby, some few splendid in calf and 
sold. 

"This looks natural," said Mr. Horner, as he walked up to the 
shelf of dictionaries and pulled out a battered Latin Lexicon. 
" Nothing so familiar as a well-worn old friend of this sort." He 
turned at once to a certain leaf on which he expected to find, and 
did, his own initials scribbled on the margin and decorated with 
the American flag, drawn in a flourishing style. 

" Here is History," said Mr. Bruce, turning to the boys, point- 
ing out one large division of shelves, " and all this is American 
History; or ought to be," he added with a smile. "My books 
are arranged according to a system, but it is not so unerring as the 
Solar one ; my planets often wander from their orbits." As he 
spoke, he took a volume of Palfrey's New England from among 
the dictionaries and placed it in its own gap on the New Eng- 
land shelf. 

" You had better amuse yourselves," he continued, " with the 
books, while your father and I are talking matters over." The two 
elder gentlemen settled themselves before the fire, the professor 
with a well-browned pipe, and Mr. Horner with a cigar, while the 
younger pair took down various books relating to American His- 
tory, and compared notes as to their ignorance or knowledge of 
the subject. Tom, of course, had the familiarity of an average boy, 
not especially fond of reading, with the past of New England, but 
he soon found Hubert's questions were too much for him, and 
after a time, and as it grew towards dusk, the boys came to the 
fireside, and by their remarks, led Mr. Bruce into some rather 
rambling talk on his favorite hobby, the early life of New Eng- 
land. 

It came out that the aggregate stock of the combined knowledge 
of the two boys amounted pretty much to this : that Columbus- 



m 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 




discovered America ; tliat his voyage was not the same as that of 
the Mayflower, though Hubert was not clear on this point, on 
account of the general resemblance, in pictures, between that vessel 

and the caravels of the discoverer. 

They also knew that the Puritans left 
England for more freedom in religion 
than they could have at home ; that 
they went through all sorts of suffer- 
J ings from the hardships of the climate, 
and the lack of the comforts of civili- 
zation, also on account of the Indians, 
with whom they could not keep peace. 
By and by, the boys supposed, the col- 
onies became prosperous, and all went 
on well until they quarrelled with the 
mother country, resisted the control of 
rulers and laws sent out to them from 
England, and began, with Lexington and 
Bunker Hill, the struggle for independence, which ended in the 
famous Declaration of July 4, 1776. 

"And since then," said Tom, "we have just had a Republic, 
with Presidents, beginning with Washington, you know, Hubert, 
and going on straight along down to our own times." 

On a Saturday noon, near the close of autumn (November ir 
1620), the Mayflcnvcr dropped her anchor in the harbor of what is 
Provincetown, Cape Cod. This was the beginning of the Colony of 
Plymouth. When four years had passed, the village consisted of 
only thirty-two cabins, inhabited by a hundred and eighty persons. 
Six years later it numbered three hundred jiersons, and at the end 
of its life of seventy years, its population had probably not come 
to exceed eight thousand. It is on account of the virtue dis- 
played in its institution and management, and of the great conse- 
quences to which it ultimately led, that the Colony of Plymouth 



CARAVELS OF COLUMBUS. 



THE PILGRIMS. 



QC> 



claims its importance. Its early records describe the buildino- of 
log houses, turning sand heaps into corn fields, dealings with 
stupid Indians, anxious struggles to get a living, and the sufferings 
of men, women and children, wasting under cold, sickness and 
famine ; it is the heroism and courage, moved by the noble im- 
pulse of a sense of religious obligation, which give interest to the 
details of the first days of this settlement. 

Having kept their Sabbath quietly, the men began the labors of 
the week by landing a shallop from the ship and hauUng it up 
on the beach for repairs, while 
the women went on shore to 
wash clothes. While some of the 
men were at work on the boat, 
sixteen others set off on foot 
to explore the country. On this 
expedition they saw five or six 
savages, who ran away from them. 

Such is the simple account of 
the first week-day of these pil- 
grims in a strange land. The 
time of year was most unfavor- 
able. December was upon them, 
and the severity of the cold was 
extreme. 

After some exploration, by land and water, it was on the twenty- 
second of December that they decided upon a place "as they 
supposed fit for situation." Trustworthy tradition has preserved the 
knowledge of the landing-place. It was PLYMOUTH ROCK. 

No time was now lost. By the end of the week, the Mayflower 
had brought her company to keep their Sabbath by their future 
home. Their first favorable impressions of the spot they had chosen 
were improved by further exploration. There was a convenient har- 
bor, "compassed with a goodly land." The country was well- 




THE MAYFLOWER. 



64 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

wooded ; the sea and beach promised abundance of fish and fowl, 
and four or five small runnuig brooks brought a supply of "very 
sweet fresh water." After prayer for further divine guidance, they 
fixed upon a spot for the erection of their dwellings ; a storm 
came to interrupt their proceedings, very naturally, on the sixteenth 
of December. Then they set to work to fell timber and set up 
their houses. It was agreed that every man should build his own 
house. The frost and bad weather hindered them much. Seldom 
could they work half the week. 

Yet they persevered through far worse troubles ; sickness from 
exposure and want of proper food carried off nearly half their 
number during the terrible first winter. But courage and fidelity 
never gave out. The well carried out the dead through cold and 
snow, and then hastened back from the burial to wait on the 
sick ; and as the sick began to recover, they took the places of 
those whose strength was exhausted. There was no time, and no 
inclination, to despond. The lesson was not forgotten, that " all 
great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, 
and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable 
courage." The dead had died in a good service, and the fit way 
for survivors to honor and lament them was to be true to one 
another, and to work together bravely for the cause to which 
dead and living had alike been consecrated. 

"Warm and fair weather" came at length, says their record, "and 
the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly." Never was spring 
more welcome. It began, fortunately for them, to show itself in 
early March, a full month earlier than the year when the Homers, 
on a day near the middle of April, were sitting before a com- 
fortable fire. Snow fell thick without, while Mr. Bruce was reading 
or repeating the above, from Palfrey's History of New England. 



IN BED. 65 



CHAPTER VII. 

IN BED. 

THE delicious country tea provided by Mrs. Bruce's hospital- 
ity failed to tempt Hubert's appetite. He refused muffins, 
and even hot brown waffles, to be eaten with maple syrup ; and 
finally asked to be excused, saying he felt a little faint. 

He was advised to go to bed, and Tom went up with him to 
the large room at the top of the house which had been assigned 
to the two boys. Mrs. Bruce, a little anxious, followed them a 
little later, and on her return, reported Hubert as feverish. She 
made him as comfortable as she could, and left him, hoping a good 
night's rest would set him right; but Hie next morning he was 
quite ill, and kind old Doctor Goodkin was sent for. He pro- 
nounced it fever, though not alarming ; th t consequence, probably, 
of over fatigue, not an unnatural effect of the voyage, and pre- 
scribed staying in bed for the present. 

This was awkward, for Mr. Horner's business compelled him to 
be back in New York by Saturday night, and for this it was nec- 
essary to leave Utopia at noon, that day. 

Hubert knew this, and begged Mr. Horner to leave him with 
the Bruces, who would, he said, be just as good as possible to 
him. Mr. Horner hesitated, then said, at first, that he would 
leave Tom with Hubert ; but after all due delicacy, it was decided 
that Hubert only should remain, while Tom and his father went on 
to Burlington for that night, and home to New York the next day, 
through Rutland and Albany. 

Thus it happened that Hubert began at once his Vermont life, 



66 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

and did not go to New York, for the present. Tom went back to 
school, which was important, as he was finishing his last year. 
It was arranged that Mr. Bruce should take the two boys for the 
summer, to board and teach, beginnmg at once with Hubert, on a 
regular course of study and reading. 

"Good-by, old fellow," said Tom, standing at the bedside of his 
friend; "it seems rather rough to leave you in this way." 

"Don't you worry," returned Hubert with a smile; he was really 
not very ill, only not quite up to travelling. " I shall be out and 
all over the country directly, while you are grinding away at 
school." 

"Be sure," said Mr. Horner, "to write us if you feel lonely, 
and we will send Bessie up to you, or somebody." 

"That would be a temptation to make believe I was lonely," 
replied Hubert gayly ; " for I long to see Bessie. But I think 
there are people here I shall make friends with. Tom, did not 
you see a pretty girl in the snow storm yesterday, just as we were 
arriving .'' " 

" Was she pretty ? I did not look at her, but her dog. I hope 
she is, for your sake." 

" Come ! " called Mr. Bruce from the foot of the stairs, and the 
parting was hastened. 

Tom and his father again packed into a sleigh, went back over 
the mountain to the station, while Hubert turned on his pillow 
with a sigh, more disheartened, now that he was really left, than 
he had allowed to appear. Poor fellow, he had a stout heart, and 
had already in life met with sad experiences. 

Before long, Mrs. Bruce came to him, and put a soft hand on 
his head. 

"If you feel equal to it," she said, "I want you to slip on my 
husband's dressing-gown and come down-stairs one flight. You will 
be more comfortable there, and we can look after you more 
easily." 



IN BED. 



67 



The change to the Blue Room was very pleasant. It was 
a small chamber opening from Mrs. Bruce's own room, — a sort of 
boudoir in fact, though she would have been amazed at such a 
name. It contained some old-fashioned things, — an old easy chair 
with high sides, to rest the cheek against, a work-table with 
drawers and a bag beneath, and a nice little bed, just put up on 
purpose for the 

invalid, with a de- .^^y' 

lightful patchwork __ ff ~=^ - ^ 

quilt made of bits ,;ai»^- 

of very old prints, 

— cocks and hens, -^^ .- 

gaudy fl o w e r s , 
men and beasts, 
sewed together in 
d i am o n d s and 
squares. 

The room was 
on the sunny side 
of the house, and 
the sun, for a won- 
der, was streaming in at the window ; the warmth of a large 
stove in the adjoining chamber penetrated it pleasantly. Here 
Hubert was installed, and here, by and by, Mrs. Bruce came and 
sat by him, knitting a stocking. Her fingers flew fast, and she 
chatted cheerfully, about all manner of things. That first day 
Hubert was too languid to talk much himself. He slept a good 
deal, and the rest of the time liked to lie looking at the patterns 
of his bedquilt. 

Mrs. Bruce had lived all her life in the country, where her pa- 
rents and grandparents were born and died, true representatives of 
the New England type. She remembered herself a primitive sort of 
life, and she could repeat also a thousand traditions of olden times. 




THE RED SCHOOLHOU.SF. 



68 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"My grandfather," she said, "was a schoolmaster, just as Mr, 
Bruce has always been, but things were very different in old 
times. No such comforts as we enjoy fell to his lot, and yet he 
raised a large family. He kept school in the little red schoolhouse 




THE COLONIAL SCHOOLMASTER. 

T will show you, the first time we drive out. It is standing yet ; 
but you will see also, some day, what a fine Academy there is over 
at East Utopia. 

" School was held for two months in the winter, by a man, and 
for two months in summer by a woman. The boys went in. 
winter, the girls in the summer. 



IN BED. G9 

"My grandfather," she said, "was scarce out of his teens when 
iie began teaching, and some of his boys were bigger than he was. 
He did think of studying for the pulpit, but he kept straight along 
teaching all his life. His pay was small, but he did not have to 
lay out any of it on his keep, that is, not till after he was mar- 
ried, for the district paid for his board with whatever farmer would 
board and lodge him the longest time for the amount. 

*' In some districts this was far too expensive a method, and the 
master was expected to live with the parents of his pupils, regu- 
lating the length of his stay by the number of the boys in the 
family who went to his school. So it happened that in the course 
■of his teaching, he became an inmate of all the houses in the dis- 
trict, and not seldom had to walk five miles, in the worst of 
weather over the worst of roads, to his school. But he was 
always a welcome and honored guest. He slept in the best 
room, sat in the warmest nook by the fire, and had the best food 
set before him at the table. In the long winter evenings, he 
helped the boys with their lessons, held yarn for the daughters, and 
escorted them to spinning matches and quiltings." 

"What are quiltings.^" asked Hubert feebly. 

" Why, that quilt that you are lying under was made at a quilt- 
ing bee," said Mrs. Bruce; "it was when Grandfather Horner was 
■courting his wife." 

"What! My Horners .? " 

"To be sure. Tom's great-grandfather was this same school- 
master. We have quilting matches now once in a while, up here 
in the country. When you get well, I will show you the great 
•quilting-frame in the garret." 

When Mr. Bruce came in to see Hubert after dinner, and heard 
what they had been talking about, he added some of his own remi- 
niscences, as a schoolbov, when manners were but little changed 
irom those of a hundred years ago. They used to sit eight hours 
a day on hard benches, poring over Cheever's Accidence, puzzling 



70 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

out long words in Dilworth's Speller ; they had to read long chap- 
ters in the Bible, and learn by heart Doctor Watts' Hymns for 
Children ; to be drilled in the Assembly Catechism ; to go to bed 
at sundown, get up at sunrise, and live on brown bread and pork, 
porridge and beans. When Sunday came round, or, as they called 
it, the Sabbath, they found it anything but a day of rest. There 
were long prayers in the morning by the master, and commenta- 
ries on some Scripture text to be got by rote before meeting,, 
to which, dressed in their best, they marched off, with ink-pot and 
paper, to take down the heads of the sermon, in order to give 
what account of it they could at evening prayers. Between morn- 
ing and afternoon meeting they were indulged with a cold 
dinner. 

"The master did not, in old days, consider it his duty to explain 
anything to his school. His business was to stand, rod in hand,, 
while his pupils pondered hopelessly over lessons which ten words 
would have made clear. There were no modern appliances to help 
the eye and mind, such as maps and charts, blackboards, globes and 
models." 

" Oh, dear," sighed Hubert, " I'm glad I was not there ! " 
The early colonial schoolboy had more trouble with his arithmetic 
than those of the present day, on account of the confusion caused 
by the different kinds of coin. Our easy table — 

!0 niill.s nuike ;i cent 

10 cents make a dime, etc., 

would have seemed to him but a trifle. Until after the framing 
of the Constitution, there was no national currency based upon a 
universally recognized unit. The English pound and the Spanish 
milled dollar were equally current, the pound being divided into 
shillings and pence, while the Spanish dollar was divided into shil- 
lings, Spanish bits or pistareens, half-bits or half-pistareens, coppers 
or pennies, while these varied in value in different States. The 



rS' BED. 



73 



schoolboy therefore was expected to convert with readiness pounds 
and shilhngs into dollars and bits, and to know whetijer a pista- 
reen, New York money, was worth more or less than a pistareen, 
New England money. Not that he was allowed to spend himself 
many of either. 











COLLECTION OF COINS. 



74 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



REGULAR LESSONS. 



HUBERT'S illness was hardly anything more than the over 
fatigue of his voyage. The rest in the quiet country house 
where he now found himself, the gentle care of Mrs. Bruce, and 
her husband's pleasant manner to him, were all comforting and 
salutary. In a few days he was anxious to be up and out, espe- 
cially as there began to be signs of spring weather. 

One morning he asked Mrs. Bruce, when she came in as 
usual, after her household cares : 

" Whose voice is that I heard down-stairs .-* A little girl's voice,, 
I should think." 

"That is Alice," replied Mrs. Bruce with a smile, "my niece, 
who lives over in that house." She pointed through the window at 
a house not very far distant. " She has been here once or twice 
to hear how you are, and she wants to see you. See, here are a 
few May-flowers ! By the time you are well, there will be plenty 
in the woods, and she wants to go with you and show you where 
to find them." 

Hubert had never seen the pretty flowers of the Epigcea rcpcns, 
trailing arbutus, or May-flower. It bears all these names, the first 
being its true botanical one, the second given to it, in various 
places where it grows, for no imaginable reason, and the last a 
tribute to the welcome it gave, the first spring flower they saw, 
to the Pilgrims at Plymouth, after the dreary winter of 1620. 

That afternoon, when Hubert had been established in llie old 
easy chair, and partaken of a juicy bit of beefsteak, Alice Martin 



REGULAR LESSONS. 



75. 



was allowed to come up and make him a visit. As soon as he 
saw her, he recognized the pretty girl in the snow storm, whom 
he had noticed the day he arrived. 

She looked about his own age, and she was very pretty. At 
first, she was shy, and so was Hubert. Neither of them thought 
of anything to say, after the first few sentences. 

"Are you Tom Horner's cousin.?" asked Hubert^ at length. 
" Sixth or seventh only, I believe," said Alice, " and you know 
I have never seen any ot the Homers. They have never been 

here, and I have never been in New 
York. I suppose they are rather 
stuck up, they have been abroad so 
much." 

Alice had been boarding at 
A,. ^ East Utopia, to "attend the 
:^0^ Academy," for two- 

" <3f years, from which 
.she had returned 
feeling herself some- 
what superior to or- 
dinary beings, which 
accounts, perhaps, 
for ascribing to oth- 
ers the condition 
called "stuck-up." 

" Oh, no, they are 
not in the least!" 
cried Hubert, 
prompt to defend 
his friends, " al- 
though I don't know 
at all what you mean, only something unpleasant." 

"Oh, I didn't mean anything unpleasant," hurriedly replied the 





MAY-FLOWERS. 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND II0:ME. 

num. iii"»'^^ijw>iJi*iMrjrx«c'»'u.UjjuH^ijiij 







(-.OING AFTER MAV-IXU\VKKS. 



girl, as she buried her face 
in the sweet-smelling May- 
flowers. " Are they not 
sweet ? " she continued, to 
change the subject. "We 
are going to have a party 
to gather them, as soon 
as they are plenty. Won't 



" With pleasure," replied 
Hubert, "only if it is a 
large party I shall be 
afraid." 

" You stick close to me," 
said Alice with a smile, 
"and you will be safe 
enough." 

Not many days after- 
wards, the party came 
off, — several children of 



REGULAR LESSONS. 



77 



the place, with Alice and Hubert, and Professor Bruce, as young 
and active as any of them. 

Going after May-flowers has not the ideal charm of going a-May- 
ing as described by the poets. Hubert knew nothing of an Eng- 
lish May, as his life had been chiefly passed away from home ; 
but he fancied there must be a difference. The day was bright. 
The road was muddy ; after they had turned from it into a wild 
cart path through the woods, they walked on damp, dead leaves of 
the year before. 

By and by they came to a sort of opening, where the sun 




EARLY SETTLERS. 

streamed in and made it warmer. Tall pine-trees surrounded the 
spot, and the ground was red with the fallen pine tassels. 

" Here it is ! Mine is the first ! " cried Alice. 

Hubert had seen nothing, though he was walking by her side: 



78 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



but now, as she stooped, he perceived she had found a bunch of 
the pretty, starry flowers, poking their heads up from the leaves 
and pine tassels. To his surprise, as she pulled the stem, a long 
string of the plant came up. with plenty of flowers attached to 
the strong stems. The leaves were of the year before, which, 
.under the warm covering of fallen pine, had passed the winter 







A RUDE BEGINNING. 



comfortably, the incipient buds hidden in their axils, all ready 
with the first breath of spring, to push up and open. 

After this they found plenty, and their baskets were rapidly 
filled. A kind of mania seized every one to find the pinkest 
blossoms. There was every shade, from pale pure white to deep- 
ening rose color. 

Mr. Bruce wandered off, searching for botanical specimens, but 
there was nothing yet to be found. The May-flower precedes 
everything else. Evergreen ferns, left from the autumn, and bright 



REGULAR LESSONS. 7j) 

green moss, in the wet places, were the only variety of color 
upon the gray and reddish tints of bare branches, and the yellow 
leaves still clinging to birches and some oaks. 

As they came home by a roundabout road, Hubert saw, for the 
first time, maple-trees ready for sugaring. Each tree had a hole 
bored in its trunk, and a pail hanging on a peg below the open- 
ing, waiting for the sap to run. All the pails were empty. 

"The sap don't run worth a cent this year," said Mr. Brick, 
the day he drove them over ; " we don't seem to have the rio-ht 
kind of nights. Real cold, and then the sun out bright afterwards. 
That's what makes it come. I ain't sure as there'll be 'ny more 
sugar." 

Somehow or other there was sugar, and very delicious maple 
syrup, to be eaten on griddle cakes and waffles. 

Meantime, Hubert's trunks had arrived ; and he had returned 
to the up-stairs room, where he installed himself with all his pos- 
sessions. 

A corner of the library was also allotted to him, and regular 
lessons began. Mr. Bruce found him on the whole, better grounded 
than Mr. Horner had led him to hope ; the boy's training had 
been so desultory, there was little reason to expect much in the 
way of results. He wrote a good hand. His spelling was rather 
wide of the mark, bearing traces of the different languages he had 
made acquaintance with. As yet, he had no settled habits of 
study ; but he was willing to apply himself, and on the whole, did 
not waste much of the three hours, daily devoted to study, in 
scribbling over pieces of paper, and practising styles of hand- 
writing. 

He read aloud every day, for Mr. Bruce believed that daily 
practice alone makes perfect in an accomplishment so well worth 
having as a good style of reading and enunciation, not elocutionary, 
but simple and distinct. 

Hubert was surprised to find how much ground he went over 



80 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

by such steady reading aloud for two hours every day. It seemed 
much slower than reading to himself, and yet the pages of Palfrey's 
New England melted like snow beneath the sun ; and he found, 
moreover, that what he read in this way he understood and en- 
joyed more thoroughly than what he read to himself, in the skim- 
ming, skipping fashion which may suit a story book, but is bad as 
a habit. 

The Plymouth Colony was the first of the early settlements of 
New England. It was followed by others, and in 1692, united with 
that of Massachusetts Bay, under the name of Massachusetts, which, 
being thus first settled, was in a manner the parent of the later 
colonies. 

Maine was one of the earliest parts of the country visited and 
explored by Europeans. An English colony tried to establish it- 
self there, and a French colony soon after. But in the end, during 
the colonial period, Maine was reckoned as a part of Massachusetts. 

New Hampshire was visited very early, and Portsmouth and Dover 
were settled in 1623. These settlements were chiefly on the coast 
for fishing ; the colony extended very slowly, and it was long 
before the northern and interior townships were filled up ; in many 
cases, by people coming from Scotland and Ireland. By the time 
of the American Revolution, New Hampshire was a strong and in- 
dependent colony, taking its name from Hampshire in England, 
whence came some of its early settlers. 

Vermont was first explored in 1609; but had no European set- 
tlers for more than a century after that. Down to the time of 
the Revolution it was not recognized as a separate colony, but 
went by the name of the " New Hampshire Grants," as if that 
State had the control of its land. New York, however, also laid 
claim to these same "Grants;" it was a long time before the 
Green Mountain Boys, as they called themselves, became inde- 
pendent of the other colonies. The name Vermont means only 
Green Mountain. 



KEGULAE LESSONS. 



81 



During all this time the different eolonies were under rulers 
appointed from England, and had no thought of a separate gov- 
ernment. The first planting of the soil, and foundation of settle- 
ments, from the very beginning, as we have seen of the seventeenth 
century up to the period of the Revolution, were under the au- 
spices of the English government. The wars were English wars, 
the troops were British troops, who fought against the enemies of 
the English crown, whether French or Indian. 

Up, therefore, to the time of the separation, the interests of the 
American colonies and of the Home Government were the same ; 
and the colonists became involved in the quarrels between England 
and France. Thus the war known in American History as " King 
William's War," in which Indians fighting for the French, perpe- 
trated horrid barbarities upon the settlements of the colonies, was 
in fact between England and France, or rather between Catholic 
France and the Protestant countries of Europe. It lasted for nine 
years, during which Louis the Fourteenth of France won many 
battles ; but at the end of which he was willing to make peace^ 
at Ryswick, just before 1700. 




LARCH CONES. 



82 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER IX. 



AN ADVENTURE. 




A" 



LICE and Hubert became, perforce, 
constant companions ; not so much 
from any great congeniality, as by strength 
of circumstances. Hubert felt himself greatly 
superior to the country girl, who, in spite 
of certain airs and graces acquired at school, 
was lacking in polish, and whose pronuncia- 
tion of some words was a constant surprise 
to him. Alice, on the other hand, while she 
stood in awe of Hubert's fine manners, and 
somewhat dainty ways, held her own very well. She had no idea 
of being patronized, and if on any occasion there seemed danger 
of his getting the better of her, in points of etiquette or good 
grammar, she readily turned the tables on him by exposing his 
utter ignorance concerning all country things. The science of the 
barn, the hen-coop, and the farm was one in which she was well 
versed, while he had not even studied its rudiments. 

Mr. Martin, the father of Alice, owned a large farm, and with 
the help of many men, took care of it himself. As the spring 
opened, Hubert spent most of the time over at Alice's, where 
the attractions for the two children were greater than at the 
professor'.^. 

Hubert loved animals, and he delighted in the long barn, where 
the long row of cows and a yoke of oxen were at home in their 
stalls, six of them, sticking out their great friendly heads, and 



AN ADVENTURE. 



80 



giving steamy puffs of breath that smelt like hay. He was, to tell 
the truth, a little afraid of them, and never learned to venture so 
near them as Alice did. Hens wandered freely about the place, and 
took familiar liberty with the good-natured cattle, and little birds 
flew in at the door to peck the scattered corn upon the ground. 
Over the horse-stalls was the loft, reached by a somewhat shaky set 
of steps, where feats of climbing could be performed by means of 




THE OLD BARN. 



the bars, stretching from one stall to another. Alice was well 
versed in these feats, although at fifteen she considered them 
beneath her dignity ; she rather despised Hubert for his awkward- 
ness in getting about over beams and down cribs ; it was an 
awkwardness caused by ignorance rather than want of courage, and 
at last a little adventure redeemed him in her eyes from a sus- 
picion of cowardice. 



S4 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



Above one part of the barn was a large barn-chamber, so called, 
which ran the whole length of the building. It was approached by a 
steep flight of stairs, directly at the top of which was the door 
opening outwards with an old-fashioned latch, and secured from 
swinging by a stout hook on the outside. The great room had 
been used for all sorts of things, — threshing on the floor, drying 
corn, and the like, but now was nearly empty, with the exception 
of a pile of old barrels, broken rakes, and the remains of a de- 
crepit sleigh which were heaped up in one corner. The place was 

lighted at each end by 
a small window with 
a number of small 
panes, covered with 
the dust of ages, and 
plentv of cobwebs. 
Hubert took a sort 
of fancy to the long, 
low, dingy apartment, 
and he proposed tO' 
himself, when Tom 
came, to make it the 
scene for some tourn- 
ament, wrestling match 
or theatricals. 

One afternoon, Hu- 
bert came over as us- 
ual ; it was a windy day, 
and not very attractive 
outdoors, and learning 
that Alice was not at 
home, he established 
himself alone, in the sitting-room, and soon became absorbed in a 
book which he found there. 




FAMILIARITY. 



AN ADVENTURE. 85 

By and by Alice came in, full of high spirits after a walk in 
the wind and sun. 

Hubert looked up, but did not otherwise notice her, going on 
■with his book. This was not unusual, for the two were so much 
together, scant ceremony was used between them. Now, however, 
Alice unfortunately wanted to talk. 

" Hubert, there are cowslips down in the brook. I wanted to get 
them, but I had on my good boots and I was afraid of wetting them." 

"Ah.''" said Hubert, reading on. 

" But if you will go, I will put on my old boots. Do you have 
•cowslips in England, Hubert ? " 

"Yes, plenty. Just let me finish this." 

"What, that HVrt^r Awake? It is an old one. I read it long 
:ago, and guessed all the riddles." 

Hubert grunted, and shook himself as he would to drive off an 
impertinent fly. This roused Alice, and she laid hold of the book 
to pull it away from him, whereat he sprang up in deep dis- 
pleasure, and exclaiming, half in fun, 

" Alice, you are a nuisance," he dashed off out of the open front 
■door, with his Wide Awake still in his hand. Alice followed, and 
an active chase ensued, round the house, in and out of the gar- 
den, which suited her very well, as she considered it all fun. 
Hubert, however, was in earnest, and really wanted to get out of 
the way. As she fell behind a corner of the barn, he darted into 
it without her seeing him, and up the stairs to the barn chamber, 
unhooked the hasp, let himself in, and hastened to hide himself 
behind the sleigh. The door swung to in the wind. As Hubert 
heard no sound of Alice following, he ventured to peep out of the 
window, and saw her in full career running away from the barn 
toward the house, where, luckily for him, at that moment, her 
•mother appeared, calling her. 

With a sigh of relief, Hubert slid down upon the floor and fin- 
ished his story ; then went on to consider the rest of the number. 



86 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



It was perhaps an hour after that he got up, stretched himself, 
and thought of looking up Alice, to make peace with her. He 
went to the door, lifted the latch, and found it would not open. 
Shaking it did no good, neither did kicking it, though he tried 
both, and though it was a loose old door, on rusty hinges ; but of 
course he did not care to break it down. 

A very slight inspection showed that it was hooked on the out- 
side. At first he was very angry, suspecting a trick played upon 
him by Alice, but when he came to think about it, — and he had 




THE r.ARN FLOOR. 



plenty of time to think, — he was convinced that the great hook on^ 
the outside had fallen over of itself into its hasp when the door 
was blown to ; and this must have been the case. 

Hubert resolved to be philosophical, and he returned to his 
Wide Aivakc. But the number had lost its charm ; interested as 
he had been at the first in its contents, he was indifferent tO' 
reading it over so soon a second time. Moreover, he was hungry. 

So Hubert set about looking for means of deliverance. He tried 



AN ADVENTURE. 87 

the nearest window, the one which looked toward the house. It 
stuck fast, and he soon perceived that the sash was kept down 
by stout nails. After giving the door one more futile shake, he 
crossed to the other end of the chamber, and tried the window 
there. 

That too was fastened, but more loosely, the woodwork of the 
old window-pane was rotten, and the nail which held it gave way, 
so that he could pull it out. To his great joy, he pushed up the 
little sash, and looked forth. 

There was barely room for his head and shoulders to push 
through, and when he looked down, the prospect was not promis- 
ing of escape. 

The ground was some fifteen feet below, and the nature of it 
not attractive, the pigpen being placed directly under this part 
of the barn. Two immense great hogs were grunting in a good 
old-fashioned sty ; they turned their emotional noses upward at the 
unusual sound over their heads, caused by the opening of the 
window, and gazed feebly at Hubert with their small blinking eyes. 

'• Pig ! pig ! " called Hubert, and flattered them by imitating their 
noise, "how shall I get out of this window.-'" 

There was nothing to keep the sash open when it was not rest- 
ing on the back of his neck. Hubert continued his inspection of 
the outside for a few moments, and at last determined on a some- 
what precarious plan. 

Meanwhile, teatime arrived. 

"Is Hubert going to stay to tea.?" asked Mrs. Martin of her 
daughter. 

" I don't know," replied Alice crossly. " He is a tiresome, hate- 
ful boy. I don't care what becomes of him. I dare say he has 
gone home, and I hope he will never come back ! " 

"Why, what's the matter.?" exclaimed her mother, surprised. 
She was a thin, nervous woman, given to worrying. " He cannot 
have gone home, for here's his hat on the chair." 



88 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

" Probably it's the English fashion to go home without your 
hat," said Alice, "especially when you take French leave." 

" Now don't be silly," said her mother, with a plaintive tone. 
" You must look him up, Alice ; he is not used to the place, and 
if he should get lost, and a foreigner at that" — 

Mrs. Martin looked as if she thought the diplomatic harmony 
between America and England might be disturbed by the loss of 
Hubert. Alice replied : 

"The great baby! Can't he take care of himself.-*" 

She saw her mother was seriously angry ; and besides she felt 
a little anxious herself. As she suspected Hubert was still lurk- 
ing in the barn, she turned her steps in that direction, looked into 
it, went through it, but was too proud to call to him. As she 
came out at the further end, she was just in time to see Hubert 
in mid air, one leg still within the barn, the other placed upon 
a precarious wooden spout, or gutter, which slanted along below 
the window. 

Alice gasped, afraid to scream. Her anger was changed to gen- 
uine alarm. 

Two steps along the spout, still grasping the window-sill with 
his hands, brought Hubert to an upright gutter-way which ran up 
and down the barn, slightly projecting from it. He clasped it, pre- 
pared to slide down. The whole thing gave way, and he was 
precipitated into — the pigsty ! 




AT UUMt:. 



MOLLY STARK'S BONNET. 



89 



CHAPTER X. 



MOLLY STARK S BONNET. 



HUBERT'S landing-place, though not attractive, was a very 
lucky one, for he fell without coming to the slightest hurt. 
Alice's scream brought old Jacob from the barn ; the pigs, astonished 
at the arrival of their headlong guest, left him the field. He was 
:soon picked out of the mire in a sorry plight, so ridiculous that 
he had to laugh, in which Alice joined him, half-crying, at the 
same time. 

This was the end of the adventure. The old gutter was never 
put up again, having served its last good purpose in promoting 
Hubert's escape. Peace was made, in few words, between the two 
young people, and Hubert secretly became a hero in Alice's eyes, 
though the older folks reproved his heedless rashness. After 
this, Alice learned to leave Hubert alone when he was absorbed 
in reading, while Hubert also resumed a little of his early polite- 
ness to her, feeling that he had been at fault. 

The farm of Mr. Martin was a very prosperous one, carried on 
with all the modern improvements ; Hubert saw all sorts of 
machines, of which, during the summer, he came to know the use ; 
such as were little thought of in the early colonial days. Thresh- 
ing and mowing machines, drills, potato-diggers, hay-rakes, corn- 
cutters, were all unknown a hundred years ago. 

The Massachusetts farmer who witnessed the Revolution, ploughed 
his land with the wooden bull-plough, sowed his grain broadcast, 
and when it was ripe, cut it with a scythe and threshed it with 
a flail, on the floor of such a barn-chamber as was the scene of 



!.0 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



cially as 
was still 



Hubert's imprisonment. 
Very simple, too, were 
the circumstances of his 
life, and his daily habits. 
His food was of the 
plainest kind, served upon 
coarse crocker}^ and eaten 
with the knife chiefly, for 
silver forks were unknown. 
Split-spoons, these were 
called by the country folk,, 
when first introduced, but 
this was later. 

Beef and pork, salt fish,, 
dried apples and vegeta- 
bles made up the daily 
fare from one year's end 
to the other. 

In these early days of 
New England, wheaten 
bread was not so com- 
mon as that made of 
Indian corn. A mi.\ture 
of two parts of Indian 
meal, with one of rye, 
has continued far into 
the present century, to 
furnish the bread of the 
great body of people. 
Hubert liked it very well, 
good brown bread, espe- 
buttcrcd toast, which on Sunday morning, with baked beans, 
the regular breakfast jirovided by Mrs. Bruce. In old times,. 




.•\ I'UKITAN lJAUt.il ] J l; 



MOLLY STARK* S BONNET. 



91 



the minister had white bread, for brown bread gave him the heart- 
burn, and he could not preach upon it, according to the idea of 
the day ; but brown bread is now universally considered very 
healthy, and a useful change upon too much white. 




OLD DAYS AND WAYS. 



If the food of the farmer was plain, so were his clothes, which 
would, to his descendants, be thought to furnish a wardrobe scanty 
in the extreme. 

For going to meeting on the Sabbath, and for state occasions 
during the week, he had a suit of broadcloth, or corduroy, which 
lasted him a lifetime, and was at length bequeathed, little the 
worse for wear, with his cattle and his farm, to his son. The 
suit in which his neighbors commonly saw him, the one in which 



«2 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



he followed the plough, tended the cattle and dozed • in the chimney- 
corner, was of cloth spun and woven at home. 

The New England farmer, we may suppose, had no great regard 
for the fashions, as he took whatever was supplied to him in 
whatever form it came. It is interesting' to see how the steeple- 
crowned hat of the Puritan, with jerkin, small clothes and ruff, 
gave way to the cocked hat, straight coat, with large cuffs and 
square-toed shoes, introduced in the reign of William and Mary. 
These have been followed in the course of the century by gradual 
changes. Breeches have grown to trousers, jerkins have become 
cutaways, and the steeple crown has turned into a bean-pot. 

To us, a rough country boy driving a sled through the woods 



Ti:^! 



^^M^^$$ 



MM>^ 






S«-f-tu ••- 




oi.n sivi.K 



in a three-cornered hat and breeches, seems like a masquerade; 
but to bim it was as natural as a wide-awake and ulster. Such 
was the dress of the fanner. A man of fashion or means in the 
last century, with clothes based on the same models, was far 
more splendid. Me wore a three-cornered cocked hat heavily laced. 
His hair was done up in a queue, and profusely powdered. His 



MOLLY STARK'S BONNET. 93 

coat was light-colored, very long in the back, with silver buttons 

engraved with the letters of his name. His small clothes came 

scarce to his knees, his shoes were adorned with huge buckles : 




HOME MANUFACTURE. 



his vest had flap-pockets, his cuffs were loaded with lead to keep 
them in place. 

Thus it seems that the fashions of men are as changeful and 
fantastic as those of women. The simple costume of the Puritan 
maiden, with her modest cap, gave way to cumbrous hoops and 
huge bonnets, even in the country where gorgeous brocades, tall 
feathers and high-heeled shoes were not likely to be seen. 

In the garret of the Bruce house was an immense collection of 
bonnets of all ages ; and in a period of rainy days, Hubert and 



-94 



A FAMILY FLKiHT AROUND HOME. 



Alice found some amusement in rummaging these specimens of 
head gear. 

Mrs. Bruce promised to come up and give the history of some 

■of these things. 

"For I dare say," she said to Hubert, "I can find the bonnet 
I wore to Mrs. Horner's wedding. It was considered a gorgeous 
thing; sent for to New York on purpose for the occasion."' 

Alice and Hubert pleased themselves by trying to discover in 




MOU.Y STARK'S bonnet 



the collection which was the one that had appeared at the' 
wedding of Tom's father and mother. 

" Let us take it down-stairs, and when Bessie comes she can 
wear it," said Hubert. 

"You talk a great deal about Bessie," said Alice, with a little 
impatience, " is she so very wonderful ? " 

" She is not so very wonderful," replied Hubert, who was 



MOLLY STARK'S BONNET. 95 

sitting in an old swing, which, strange to say, was suspended 
from a beam of the old garret. "She is simply the nicest girl 
that ever was." 

"Oh," said Alice. 

"But then, she is older than you," added Hubert consolingly, as 
if to imply that Alice had time for improvement. 

"Do you believe they will really come up here.?" asked Alice. 

"What! the Homers.? Of course, Tom certainly, and I do 
hope Bessie will come. But let us see about the bonnets." 

After a good deal of disagreement, they settled on one bonnet 
which had an air of faded style about it, they both thought; so 
they brought it down to Mrs. Bruce, whom, after some search, 
they found in the very kitchen from which a delicious odor, and 
an equally alluring sound, issued. She was frying doughnuts ; a 
dish piled up with hot brown rings was on a table near the stove, 
on which the rest of the batch were hissing and sputtering in 
the hot fat. 

The doughnuts at once turned the thoughts of the young peo- 
ple, and, for a few moments, they discussed with tooth and tongue, 
two favorable specimens, fresh from the fire ; but afterward Hubert said: 
"See, Mrs. Bruce, is this the wedding bonnet.?" 
"That — no, indeed; why, that bonnet belonged to Molly Stark!" 
But who was Molly Stark.? Such ignorance was punished by 
the banishment of the offenders from the kitchen, where indeed 
they were in the way, while the batch of doughnuts was much in 
danger from their presence, and Hubert betook himself to the 
library, with the intention of looking up Molly Stark. 

His attention was again diverted, however ; for on the library 
table a letter was lying for him. 

It was from Bessie Horner herself, and when Alice was allowed 
to read it, she was forced to acknowledge it was a very good 
letter. The excellence of it lay chiefly in the good news that the 
Horner house in New York was to be shut up at once, and that 



96 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROtJND HOME. 



Mrs. Horner and Bessie herself would come for a while, at least, 
to Utopia, on the first of June. May was now drawing near its 
end, so there would not be long to wait. 

Tom was still busy at school, but he and his father were to. 
shift for themselves, like many other unfortunate New Yorkers de- 
tained in town after the dust and heat have driven away their 

families. 

•'But just imagine where they are to be!" added Bessie. "Miss 
Lejeune will of course be away in June, and papa and Tom are 
to live in her apartments, and have dinner and all, ^^if they like, 
sent in from the restaurant below, just as she does." 

"I wonder where Miss Lejeune is going.?" said Hubert to him- 
self. 

"Is she splendid also.?" demanded Alice. 

"It would do you a great deal of good to know her," replied 

Hubert, with a smile. 

Bennington is a town in the southwestern part of Vermont, 
noted as "the place in which one of the early battles of the Revo- 
lution was fought. In I777 ^he British army of General Burgoyne, 

marching to the South from Canada, 
created great commotion in New Eng- 
land, since Boston was supposed to be 
its point of destination. General Stark, 
who chanced to be at Bennington, has- 
tily collected the continental forces in 
the neighborhood, and after a hot action 
of two hours, forced the enemy to retreat. 
The battle was renewed, but the Brit- 
ish were obliged to retire, leaving behind 




///// ///, 

THE Hli.N.NI.NC.TON IRUNK. 



their baggage and ammunition. 



This was on the morning of Augu.st i6, XJTJ. As he led the 
men to the attack, Stark cried out to them : 

" See there, men ! there are the red coats ! Before night they 



MOLLY STARK'S BONNET. 9^ 

are ours, or Molly Stark is a widow." So much Hubert learned. 

"Mrs. Bruce," said he, pausing to attract her attention, still 
concentrated on the doughnuts. 

"Well.? " 

" I don't believe that was Molly Stark's bonnet at all ! " 

"Why not.? You are a daring boy, to doubt the traditions of 
the family ! " 

"Why, because I don't see how it came in your garret!" 

"That was because my grandmother used to spend a great deal 
of her time at Bennington." 

" But the Starks did not belong in Bennington," said Alice, who 
had been looking up the subject with Hubert, "they were ' New 
Hampshire folks." 

" You young people are getting far too learned for me," replied 
Mrs. Bruce ; " all I know is, that amongst my grandmother's things 
there was a trunk called the Bennington trunk. It was an old 
hair trunk, with the hair all worn off of it; and this bonnet 
came out of that trunk, and it was always said to be Molly Stark's 
bonnet." 




MORE OLD BONNETS. 



98 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XL 



WILD FLOWERS. 




B" 



EFORE June 
came, bringing 
the Horners, the 
spring wild flowers 
came and went, with 
a rush, as their cus- 
tom is. It is in vain 

in order by the ahnanac, or reminding 
them when they are due, according to 
Gray's Botany. They insist upon waiting, 
past their dates, if necessary, until the 
inevitable warm breezes and hot suns 
summon them, after which they burst 
forth all together, and are gone. He who 
would sec and gather specimens of all 
kinds of wild flowers, has to lead an ac- 
tive life when they have once appeared. 
Professor Bruce was an enthusiastic bot- 
anist, who every year devoted himself at the 
right season, to the cariy wild flowers. He 
knew their homes, and where to watch for 
them, and was often tlic first to find the lit- 
tle blue hei^atica, hiding behind its stout old 
list year's leaf, which acts as a waterproof cloak to shield it 




jACK-iN-THK-rui.rrr 



WILD FLOWERS. 



99 



iintil it is ready to show itself. He knew that on the willow 
road, close by the edge of a flooded meadow, the overflow of the 
river at this season, there was sure pretty soon to be known, by 
a deep pink flush all over the bushes, the flowering of the rho- 
-dora, whose blossoms come out before the leaves appear. He knew 
that any time about then it was well to scan closely wet swamps 
among the bushes, for the sake of finding an early jack-in-the- 
pulpit poking up its head between huge light-green leaves of skunk 
■cabbage, splendid in color and luxuriance. 

As for cowslips, no search was needed to find them, for they 
spread themselves abroad over the meadows in great yellow patches, 
as good as sunshine on a cloudy day. 

Hubert declared they were not real cowslips, and so they are 
not, from the English point of view, but Alice refused to call them 
anything else, or to believe that the English cowslip was any 
prettier than the American one. 

Our cowslip, commonly so called, is a caltha, botanically speak- 
ing, a flower nearly allied to the buttercup. In fact, it is a stout 
buxom buttercup, with thick stems, broad leaves and good, honest, 
bright yellow flowers, rather coarse to examine, but with plenty of 
sunshine in them. The proper popular name for it is marsh 
marigold, but as it is no more like a garden marigold, than it 
is like an English cowslip, it may as well .keep the prettier 
name. 

The English cowslip is a primrose, and is much like the pink 
primroses easily raised here in pots, but where it grows wild it 
seeks the open pasture, while primroses hide themselves in hedges, 
or in the shade and shelter of the woods. Cowslips, as well as 
primroses, are favorites of the poets. 

Milton calls them 

Cowslips wan that hang the pensive head; 

a description full of truth, for the English cowslip is essentially a 



jOO A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

pale hanging flower, unlike our sturdy marigold, which keeps its. 
head well up to the sun. 

Hubert was a Httle persistent in defence of his own cowslip, 




THE WILLOW ROAD. 

while these, he said, were cnlle.l nothins but n.arc-hlobs at home,. 
where they grew in plenty. 

Mr. Bruce came to the rescue when the quarrel was grown^g 

dangerous. , . . 

"Shakespeare's name for the marsh marigold is the prettiest. 

DcAibtlcss he means your mare-blob in the lines — 

Winking mary-buds begin 
To ope their golden eyes ! " 

Con,p,o,„ises are never agreeable, but the diseussiou was silenee.l 
}t ln„k ulaee in the middle of a wet meadow, where Al.ce and 




RHODORA AND FRIJVGED I'OLVGALA. 



WILD FLOWERS. 103 

Hubert were both gathering big bunches of the flowers in question. 
They turned away from them to pull up long-stemmed, pale violets, 
which grew also in the wet, very different from the little darker 
blue violets, scattered everywhere close to the ground hidden in their 
leaves. Here again Hubert was critical, for the wild violets in 
England are sweet-smelling, while ours, alas ! with the exception 
of the little white violet, have no perfume. 

" Come, friends," said Mr. Bruce at last, " I think I shall leave 
you and go home, unless you can find some better way to regard 
the flowers than squabbling about them. The true way is to enjoy 
what you have got, and not to be comparing it with things which 
you might, could, would or should have had at some past indefi- 
nite time." 

He spoke lightly, but with decision. He was, in fact, becoming 
a little wearied with the want of harmony between Alice and 
Hubert, which increased as the time went on. The solitude in 
which Hubert found himself away from boys of his own age, 
was having a bad effect upon him, and Alice had not sufflcient 
character to counteract it. However, the time would not be long 
before Tom Horner's arrival, which would, it was to be hoped, 
set everything to rights. 

"Let us come on, now," said Mr. Bruce; "if we go back through 
the woods, we shall find anemones and perhaps columbines." 

The anemone {ncjiioroso) of New England is a delicate little 
flower, hanging its head among the dead oak leaves in the woods, 
of every variety of "rose-tint, from pure white to deep pink. In 
other parts of the world, a flower, similar in construction, which 
bears the same name, is large and brilliant, sometimes bright red, 
like the field poppy, sometimes purple, again yellow. It is more 
showy, but not so delicate as the pretty little wind-flower, as ours 
is sometimes called. 

Not far off, in a cleft of rock, they spied the first columbine, 
holding itself up proudly, though its red head hung down with the 



104 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



weight of its tubes filled with honey. Against this flower, Hubert 
had nothing to say. A little ashamed of his former mood, he 
burst into bud approbation of it, and after this he called it always 

his favorite. 

The next time they went for it the ground was red with its 
bright bells, and a slanting ledge of gray rock was covered with 
them. The columbine loves little crevices in rocks where a scanty 
measure of soil and moss is enough for its foothold. 

Not far off, but avoiding the rocks, grew the dog-tooth-violet, 
not a violet at all by the way, as it belongs to the lily tribe. 
It is said to have its name because the large bulb at its base 
bears a mark as if it were bitten by a dog's tooth. It is a 
graceful, pretty yellow flower, with long leaves shaped like those 
of the lily of the valley, spotted with brown. 

The trees at this time, the end of May. were still without 
their leaves, with the exception of a shimmer of green on the 
birches. The maples were red with their feathery blossoms appear- 
ing before the leaves, and all the woods in the distance were 
spread with a marvellous sheen of faint, delicate tints, green, pink, 
yellow, the most lovely effect of the whole year, and the most 
difficult to catch in a picture. 

Town people who do not reach the country before the middle 
of June or later, lose all this; it is a little early for comfort, 
for roads are bad, the weather is capricious, and the cities are stdl 
attractive. It is, though, a i^ity not to know the tender richness of 
the early spring foliage, as exquisite as the autumn tints arc brilliant. 
Through the many tinted branches, Hubert spied a mass of 
white, as if a flock of white pigeons had alighted upon a tree. 

"Ah," cried Mr. Hruce. "that is giant cornel, as we call it. 
Is it possible that is in blossom already ! " 

The tree was twenty feet or more high, and, still bare of 
leaves, was covered with large white blossoms, an inch or more 
across, showy and decorative in the extreme. 



WILD FLOWERS. 



105 








Hubert scambled up on a rock from which he could reach the 
blossoms, and broke off large branches of them. 

When they reached the house, they were laden with their trea- 
sures, the most conspicuous of which were the great 
white cornels. 

Mrs. Bruce was in gardening trim, her 
skirt turned up, old gloves on her hands, 
holding a trowel, with which she was turn- 
ing up the soil of the beds before 
the house. Crocuses were there, 
but already going out of blossom, 
tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils were 
iust coming on, and a great 



bed of lilies of the valley 
was crowded with buds. 
This was at the end 
of a long, warm day. 
The robins were sing- 
ing, the air was all 
full of golden light. 
Hubert and Alice sat 
down on the door- 
steps, laying their great 
bunches of flowers 
aside ; Mr. Bruce wiped 
his brow, for the last 
part of their walk had 
been fast. He was 
Avarm and tired. 

The children were 
tired, but it was a good comfortable tired, and it seemed delight- 
ful to sit and rest, and watch the changing lights. 

"I do believe," said Hubert, "that spring is just the loveliest 




^^^-^\ 

^:.-'-^ 



COLUMKINES AND DOG-TOOTH-VIOI,F.T. 



106 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



season of the year. It is such fun to go off and find these 
flowers, and then to think that the whole long summer is conv 
ing." 

"Yes," said Alice. "Autumn is all very well, but then the days 
are short, and you know that winter is coming, with lessons, and 
cold weather, and India rubber boots." 

Mr. Bruce had gone to his library, and Mrs. Bruce had takers 
trowel, basket and gloves round the house to put them away in. 
the tool house. 

"Alice," said Hubert suddenly, "I think I have been very dis- 
agreeable to you lately. I mean to turn over a new leaf from, 
this very time." 

"Do you.?" said she simply; "well, then, I will too." 




M 







GIANT CORNEL 



A TELEQRAM. 107 



CHAPTER XII. 



A TELEGRAM. 



IT was Saturday, the very last day of May, and Hubert was 
giowinp; restless, because no absolute tidings came of the plans 
of the Horners, He had been studying diligently all the morning, 
and as the clock struck one, ho shut up his books, stretched him- 
self, and went to the front dooi' to look about and draw a breath 
of fresh air. 

The village was quiet, as usual, but slowly coming up the steep 
hill before the house, he saw the singular phenomenon of a horse 
and buggy, and as it drew near, he recognized the now familiar 
face of Mr. Brick, who drove him over to East Utopia, with the 
Homers, on the first day of his life in Vermont. It seemed 
already an age ago. At East Utopia was the nearest railway 
station, and thus the nearest communication with the world which 
the Utopians had at command, was by means of the three-mile 
drive over the mountain. Such communication was not frequent, 
but Mr. Brick had been over twice ; once to bring Hubert's 
trunk, and once, a few weeks later, upon his own affairs. The 
mail carrier drove through three times a week from East Utopia 
to Burnett and back. 

'•Hallo! Mr. Brick," called Hubert, "what brings you over the 
mountain .'' " 

"Telegram, Mr. Hubert," was the brief reply, as Mr. Brick 
jumped out. He handed him a pale yellow envelope, and looked 
away, pretending to busy himself with the check-rein at his hor.se's 
head. 



108 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOlXD HO.Mi:. 



In the country the very outside of the yellow envelope means mis- 
fortune, as it is generally the bearer of tidings of illness or death. 

Hubert turned pale as he tore open the cover. He was not only 
relieved, but delighted at the contents. 

Meet u.s at lUiilington, Van Ness House, Monday evening. — Thomas Horner. 

His whoop of joy caused Mr. Brick to turn round. 

" Xawthing serious, I expect ? " 

" It is serious, Mr. Brick," cried Hubert. 

The good news spread through the house. Wr. Brick was engaged 




HEAD oi 



to come on Monday, to take Hubert to the necessary train at a 
preternaturally earlv hour of the morning. 

Sunday was ]-)assed in a pleasing state of wonderment as to what 
vhe plan was. wlio " us " meant, whom he was to meet at Burling- 
ton, and where they might be going afterward. 

" At any rate. I know it's something nice, for that's the way the 
Homers do things." 

" I wish I v\ere going," said Alice, with a sigh. 



A TELEGRAM. Ifl© 

" So do I," said Hubert, as the vague thought passed through 
his mind that he would like to have her. 

Monday came, and vrith the mail came letters to Mr. Bruce, ex^ 
plaining the intentions of the Homer family: but these arrived 
after Hubert was off, and he took his solitar)- joumev still in 
doubt and speculation on what was to happen next. 

This was Hubert's first essay at travelling alone in . ; - 

had to change cars for Montpelier at Wells River Junction, where 
many engines were snorting upon their respec: r 

many different destinations. But he mamr^ _ : 

train, when the time came, after waiting u; > 

teen minutes, and even to advise a woman. rr 

head, to stick close to the conductor of her hne. 

The train he took passed through Montj>elier, the capital of 
\'ermont, and then on to Burlington. 

It was dark when he arrived, but he could guess that Bur'insiton 
was a large city, from the bustle and importance of the An 

omnibus was in waiting to take him to the hoteL and after :hr 
delay of waiting for baggage, it started. The city seemed to be 
all up hill. It reminded him of arri\4ng at Mad-^' -" - : half- 
expected to see a custom house oflScial poke h> _ :_ the 
omnibus, demanding to examine the small baggage, but no such 
thing occurred. 

They stopped before the door of a large hotel, gaslight stream- 
ing from its many windows. The f)assenger3 gr " : t " *' r 
vehicle, and stood dazed in the bright light of a - ~.. 
the stree:. 

•' Hubert I *' said a voice, and Tom Homer seized him bv the 
hand. In a moment, he was hustled up a broad flight of stairs to 
a large parlor, where he found, to his delight, several friends. 

Mr. Homer was waiting for him in the <loorway. Instantly 
Bessie advanced, and greeted him cordially. He had not time 
to take in how tall she was, how grown up, what a mature kind 



110 



A FAMILY ILlGirr AKOUND HOME. 



of hat she was wearing, for Miss Lejeune's cheery voice was 

heard, saying: 

"Come and be introduced to Mrs. Horner, Hubert;" and to her, 
'■"My dear, this is Hubert Vaughan/' 

There was no stifthess in the introduction, for they all regarded 




THE COLD HEIGHTS OF THE ALPS. 



Hubert as one of the family; and although lie felt awkward for a 

moment, Mrs. Horner's kind and easy manner put him at his ease 

at once. He really fell more stiff with Bessie than any of the rest. 

Not nuicli was told iii:n that night about plans ; only that they 



A TELECiKAM. 



Ill 



were to stay the next day and see Burlington, "the Queen City 
of Vermont." 

It is beautifully situated on a long, sloping hill, on the east shore 
of Lake Champlain. It is the largest city in the State, having a 
large business in lumber, which is brought from the Canadian 
forests, sorted and planed in Burlington, after which it is sent by 
rail to Boston and other Eastern cities. 

Burlington is an academic city, containing the University of Ver- 
mont, beautifully placed on the stunmit of the hill on u-hich the 




CKO\V.\' POINT. 



town is built, a mile from the lake, and more than three hundred 
feet above it. There are besides several fine schools, a Seminary 
and an Institute. 

The town was settled about 1775, and named in honor of the 
Burlino- familv of New York. 



J12 A FAMILY FLIGIir AROUND HOME. 

Tom and Hubert shared a room in tlie hotel which overlooked 
not only streets and houses, built upon the slopmg hill, but the 
broad expanse below of the lake itself. As soon as they were 
awake they were at the windows, admiring the lovely view. Put- 
tino- their heads out, they perceived Bessie's stretched from her 
window on the opposite side of the entry; all three exchanged ex- 

pressions of praise. 

From the dome of the University the same view is seen, only 
more extended, and therefore to better advantage. 

Lake Champlain is to be seen from below Crown Point on the 
south to Plattsburg on the north, dotted with many wooded islands. 
Beyond the lake the Adirondacks f^ll the horizon, over sixty peaks 
beincr visible on a clear day, among them Marcy, the highest be- 
twee'^. the White Mountains and the Alleghanies. The lake is ten 
miles wide at this part. In the opposite direction, looking toward 
the east from the University, arc the Green Mountains, the vnis 
vionts for which the State is named. 

It was a lovely June day, and the Homers employed it in visit- 
,nc. some hospitable friends, who were proud to do the honors of 
their beautiful town by driving them to the different points of 

interest. 

The sunset across the lake, with the dark outlines sharp against 
the -lowino- Hght, was wonderful. As they sat enjoying it, in the 
o-^rdrn of one of their friends, the travelled Homers willingly acknowl- 
edged it to be fully as beautiful as similar scenes among the lakes 
of^Swit.erlan<l, with the addition of a certain charm of wildnes.. 
which to Americans. American scenery alone possesses. 

.. The onlv thing is," said Bessie, " that, after all. these mountains 
seem low. ' T should like it better if they did not call them 

mountains." ^ , i r 

..Mount Marcy," said the host, "is about five thousaud f™, 
M,„d,e,l feet above the level of the sea. Tl,e Indi:,,, name, 1 a-ha- 
„as means 'he splits the sky.'" He added, "You must not be 



A TELEGRAM. 



115 



too critical. Marcy is the highest to be had east of the Missis- 
sippi, except the White Mountains, and the Black Mountains of 
North Carolina." '^ 

"For my part," said Miss Lejeune, "I like it all much better 
than if the hills were higher. The Alps are all very well, but 
they weary me with their cold heights. I am always wishing to 
get away from them. Here, where we look across the broad ex- 
panse of water, these hills compose themselves in exactly the 
right way to suit the exigencies of the landscape." 

"Miss Lejeune is celebrated," said Mr. Horner, in cx])lanation 
to the host, "for always liking best the 'best that is to be had,' 
as you have expressed it." , 

The Adirondack chain proper is the backbone of the five ranges 
of the wilderness, dividing the waters that flow northerly into the 
St. Lawrence, from those that run south into the Hudson. These 
five separate chains constitute a great mountain belt full of the 
most varied scenery, much resorted to now in summer by pleasure 
travellers. The whole great wilderness was once an old Indian hunt- 
ing-ground, which has come to be called by an Indian name, Adiron- 
dack, a term of derision given by one family of Indians to 
another tribe of despised enemies who, during the long Canadian 
"winters, when their game grew scarce, lived, driven by hunger, for 
many weeks together, upon the buds and bark, and sometimes 
even upon the wood of forest trees. Ad-i-ron-dacks means trcc- 
xatcrs. 

This great wild region of Northern New York is almost every- 
where as high at least as two thousand feet above sea level. 
It contains more than a thousand lakes, and from its heights run 
countless rivers and streams in every direction, while over all is 
spread a primeval forest, broken here and there only by a few small 
settlements. It will long remain under the uncontested dominion 
•of nature. 



316 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A LITTLE HISTORY. 

WHILE English Colonists were settling upon the shores of 
Maine and Massachusetts, the French were making explo- 
rations farther North in Canada. 

Early in the sixteenth century, Jacques Cartier had sailed up the 
St. Lawrence; and m 1603, Samuel de Champlain sailed from 
France, to found a settlement in North America, with the per- 
mission of his king, Henry the Fourth (the hero of Ivry and 
Navarre), who gave him the title of General Lieutenant of Canada. 
Champlain founded a colony at Quebec, upon the site of an old 
Indian hamlet which Jacques Cartier had seen seventy years before; 
and there, or daring his hunting excursions with the Indians, sit- 
ting around their wild camp-fires, he heard from them marvellous 
stories of a great inland sea filled with islands, lying far to the 
southward of the St. Lawrence river. His curiosity was excited, 
and as soon as the snow melted in the spring, he set out upon a 
voyage of discovery, with only two companions besides his Indian 
escorl: of sixty warriors, with twenty-four canoes. These Indians 
were -of the Algonquin nation, and they were about to penetrate 
into regions inhabited and controlled by their hereditary enemies, 
the fieixe Iroquois, called " Mohawks " by the New England Colo- 
nists. After a toilsome passage up the rapids, they came to the 
lake to which Champlain has given his name, the far-famed "wilder- 
ness -sea of the Iroquois." It was studded with islands clothed in 
the early summer verdure. From the thickly wooded shores on 
either side rose ranges of mountains, the highest peaks still white 



A LITTLE HISTORY. 



11-; 



with patches of snow. Over all hung a soft blue haze that seemed 
to temper .the sunlight and to shade oft the landscape into spec- 
tral forms of vague beauty. 

One morning, after paddling as usual all night, they retired to 
the western shore of the lake to take their daily rest. The sav- 
ages were soon stretched along the ground in their slumbers, and 




JACQrFS CARTIER. 

Champlain, after a short walk in the woods, laid himself down to 
sleep upon his bed of fragrant hemlock boughs. He dreamed that 
he saw a band of Iroquois warriors drowning in the lake. Upon 
his attempting to save them, the Algonquins told him that "they 
were of no consequence, — nothing but Iroquois." 

His Indian friends were constantly besetting him to tell his 
dreams, and this was the first one he had remembered since the 
beginning of his voyage. It was considered bv his allies as a 



118 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

most auspicious vision, and its relation filled them with joy. Per- 
haps in telling- it, Champlain colored the recital a little, as we are 
all apt to do in repeating our dreams. 

At nightfall they set out again in their canoes, flushed with a 
hope of an easy victory. About ten in the evening, near what is 
now Crown Point, not many miles from the southern end of the 
lake, they saw dark, moving objects on the lake before ihem. It 
was a flotilla of Iroquois canoes. In a moment more each party of 
savages saw the other, and their hideous war-cries mingling, pealed 
along the lonely shores. 

Thus Champlain, and through him the whole French nation, 
became involved upon one side of an hereditary quarrel between 
two sets of Indian tribes. The consequences of this first encounter 
extended down through all the subsequent struggles between the 
contending powers on the continent ; for the Algonquins remained 
allied to the French, while the powerful Iroquois, their inveterate 
enemies, became from that moment hostile to the French and 
pledged to the opposite cause, that of the English colonists. 

In this first forest encounter Champlain and his Algonquins had 
the advantage. The sight of Champlain, clad in the metallic armor 
of the time, struck amazement and terror to the hearts of the 
Iroquois warriors ; one shot from his arquebuse made one of their 
chiefs fall. Panic-stricken at the strange appearance of a white 
man in glittering steel, sending forth from his weapons fire, smoke, 
thunder, and leaden hail, they broke and fled in uncontrollable 
terror toward their homes on the Mohawk, leaving everything 

behind them 

In 1620, the year the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, Champlain 
was made Governor-General of Canada, and brought his wife to 
Quebec. She was then very young, having married when she was 
chilly twelve years old. The Indians were struck with her frail and 
gentle beauty, and made her the object of their adoration. Cham- 
plain died in Quebec, in 1635- His wife returned later to France 



A LITTLE HI!STOKY. 



119 



and founded there a convent, we are told, where she died in the 
year 1 654. 

The lake to which he gave his name has since been the scene 
of long campaigns and desperate battles in the course of the his- 
tory of the settlement of this part of America. 

It is a large and picturesque sheet of water more than one 




TICONDEROGA AT SUNSET. 



hundred miles long, containing large islands with populous towns 
upon them. 

In the same summer that Champlain discovered his lake, Henry 
Hudson discovered and entered the mouth of the Hudson, now 
since called by his name, and ascended it as far as the Mohawk, 
one of its branches. 

This same Hudson was an Englishman, but he was employed 
at that time in the service of a Dutch company. Thus, while the 



l:iO A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

French were exploring the upper region of New York, the English 
were establishing their right to the lower part of it ; and out uf 
these contiicting claims arose the series of bloody conflicts between 
the two nations and their respective Indian allies. 

After leaving Burlington, the Homers found themselves on the 
deck of one of the large and commodious lake steamers, on their 
way to Ticonderoga, at the southern end of Lake Champlain. 
The day was lovely, and the scenery interesting ; the little party 
sat together at the stern of the boat. It was the first time really 
that there was a chance for what might be termed family talk, 
for the day at Burlington had been taken up with sight-seeing, 
and the attentions of their hospitable friends. 

Tom and Hubert were leaning over the rail talking to each 
other apart, when Tom turned to the rest of the party, and 
said : 

" Hubert wants to know what we are here for, and where we 
are going, if you do not mind." 

"I did not say any such thing!" said Hubert, coloring; "I only 
wondered ' — 

Mr. Horner laughed, and so did the others. 

" I believe nobody has taken pains to tell you our plans, Hubert. 
The telegram we sent you was short, but we thought you would 
ship for the voyage, wherever bound." 

"Why, Hubert," said Miss Lejeune, "we thought we would do 
a little sight-seeing in our own land, without crossing the Atlantic, 
and we began at the wrong end, by coming up first to Burlington, 
for the sake of having you with us." 

" Does it not seem," said Bessie, while Hubert was expressing 
his pleasure, "as if we were all on the Rhine or some foreign 
lake.?" 

It did indeed, for they were surrounded with the usual travelling 
paraphernalia. Even the red guide-book, on the seat by the side of 
Miss Lejeune, was got up to resemble Baedeker, which they always 



A. LITTLE UlsTOKY. 



I2i 



had at baud in Europe. It wa^ Osgood's New Eiiglaiid, 3. valuable 
companion. 

■ We are going tu Ticouderoga," said Mr. Horner, ••and thence 
_icro5i Lake George ; after that we shall see. This is only a little 
trip, Hubert, before settling down for the summer." 

The rush of travel sets in later, — not till July has begun. — af:er 
■which railways, steamboats and hotels, all over the picturesque 




OK rVTE. I.4KK >HOXR. 



part of Xew England, are thronged with summer tourists. July 
and August, the popular months, are, however, in themselves hot, 
dustN- and uncomfortable : the discomfort is increased by the crowd. 
Therefore for those to whom it is possible, the fresh, long days of 
-early June are more agreeable for travelling. Hotels, just open for 



122 A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND UOME. 

the summer, are clean and empty, landlords, maids and waiters are 
fresh and attentive ; above all, the fly, that pest of a New England 
summer, has not made his appearance. 

They began to ask Hubert about his life at Utopia, and Mr. 
Horner made some inquiry into his progress in lessons and read- 
ing. He found by the intelligent answers he received, that the 
bov was really interested in the subjects he had been going over, 
and fully ready to understand what they were to see of historic 
interest in the scenes of battle-fields and early events. 

"I should not wonder, Bessie," said her father, "if Hubert could 
give you points in American history already." 

"I am afraid he can, papa," she replied, "for I have not been 
cramming, you know." 

" I have not been cramming either," said Hubert. " But I have 
a few more ideas in my head than the day I landed, Tom. Then I 
hardly knew the difference between Bunker Hill and Plymouth 
Rock." 

Hubert was beginning now to see clearly how it was that New 
England became settled; how a century or more, after 1620, was 
occupied in contesting discovered territory with the French, the 
founding of towns and States, all under the name of colonies of 
England ; how the battles were the quarrels of England, embittered, 
of course, by the personal antagonism between the Indians and all 
white settlers. 

These difficulties were scarcely over, in the middle of the eighteenth 
century, when the greater one arose, of disagreement with the mother 
country. The growing colonies were become too strong to submit 
to home rule. Then came the Revolution, the war for the sake 
of freedom of the colonics, which resulted in the Declaration of 
Independence, in 1776. This, though the close of one struggle, 
was but the beginning of an effort for separate existence, for it 
was long before the United States became firmly ostablished. 



THE CHIME OF BELLS. 12a 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE CHIME OV BELLS. 



r- |"»ICONDEROGA is particularly remarkable for the prominenl 

I place held in American History by its fortifications. 

As early as 1731, a century after its discovery by Champlain, 
the French built Fort St. Frederick, and occupied it, at Crown 
Point, and then, after a careful survey of the lake, advanced to 
Ticonderoga and began a fortification there in order to command 
the passage of the lake. This fort they called " The Carillon," or 
chime of bells, on account of the music of the falls near it. 

Soon after, the commander of the English and colonial army. 
Sir William Johnson, intended to attack the two French fortresses, 
but as the P'rench re-enforced them largely, he contented himself 
with fortifying P"ort William Henry at the southern extremity of 
Lake Georo-e, as he now called it for the first time, in honor of 
the English king, and in token of his empire over it. The P^rench 
name for the smaller lake was St. Sacrament. 

This was the beginning of the last French and Indian War,, 
which lasted from 1755 to 1759, and resulted in the loss by the 
French of their control over the region of Lake Champlain and 
the St. Lawrence. 

Fort Carillon remained in the possession of the French nearly all 
this time, but in 1759 it was invested by the English forces, and 
fell into their hands. Crown Point also was soon after abandoned. 
These events were closely followed by the final victory at Quebec, 
by General Wolfe over Montcalm, which closed the war. In 1765 
peace was declared between France and England, which was a cause 



124 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



for great joy among the war-worn inhabitants of the northern valley. 
The name of Fort Carillon was now changed to Ticonderoga, 
which means chiming ivatcrs, and it became an English fort. As 
the times were peaceful it was allowed to fall into decay, and was 
held by so small a force that it fell easily into the hands of 
Ethan Allen, one of the boldest leaders of the rebellious colonists, 
who, upon the receipt of the news of the battle of Lexington, sur- 
prised the fort, on the tenth of May, 1775, and captured the little 

garrison of fifty 
men, with their 
artillery and mu- 
nitions of war. 

Later the En- 
glish regained pos- 
session of it, and 
it continued in 
their hands until 
the end of the Rev- 
olutionary War, 
when its English 
garrison retreated 
down Lake Cham- 
plain, dismantling 
the fort. After 
this war, it was 
suffered to fall in- 
to ruins ; these 
are large enough 
in extent to give evidence to all its old importance. 

The ruins of the fort crown a rocky promontory close to the 
steamboat wharf. Near them rises a forest-covered mountain, beyond 
which the lake narrows to a river. Between the promontory and 
the mountains a stream issues from the woods and falls into the 




i'HE CHlMINi; VV.MEKii. 




INDIAN difficulties; 



THE CHIME OF BELLS. 



127 



lake, making the fall which Champlain heard, but did not see, 

which has given both the French and Indian names to the locality. 

Here the little party of Horners established themselves in the 

pleasant hotel, an old-fashioned mansion-house near the lake and 




PINK A7AI,EA. 



landing. It was interesting to scramble about the ruins of the 
fort, which though less extensive than those of Heidelberg, and less 
glowing than the Alhambra, have their own claim to the interest 
of Americans, while the views of the lake, and the mountains across 
it, are very lovely. 

There were ]:)lcasant expeditions to be made to Crown Point, 
along the lake, and to the top of Mt. Defiance, across the widenings 
of the outlet of Lake George. The summit is eight hundred feet 
above the level of the lake, and the view is very fine. 

The last excursion was accomplished by Bessie and the two boys, 
along the nearly vanished military road constructed by General 
Burgovne. The elder portion of the party were content to stay 
at home, and to receive the merry accounts of the returned climbers, 
and to put in water the branches of wild cherry-blossoms, pink 
azalea and the like, they brought back. 

There were good boats to be had. and often after tea the family 
went out to row on the lake. Tom, of course, pulled a good oar, 



128 A FAMILY FLKillT AROUND HOME. 

and Bessie did fairly well for a girl. As for Hubert, he disgraced 
himself, and caught many a crab, having no knowledge of the art. 
He secretly resolved to remedy this deficiency. 

There was one boat large enough to contain the whole party, 
and in this family excursions were often made, not altogether pop- 
ular with Tom and Bessie, who had to do the rowing on such 
trips, but pleasant occasions for general talk. Mrs. Horner took 
her place always in the stern, under the vague impression that she 
could steer. Indeed she could, if she set her mind to it, but in 
the ardor of conversation she was apt to let the rudder stray at 
its own sweet will. This was of no great consequence, as the 
party were seldom going anywhere in particular. There were seats 
enough also for Miss Lejeune and Mr. Horner, in the stern. Mr. 
Horner always offered his services at the oars, but Bessie and Tom 
preferred to pull for themselves. Hubert, meanwhile, stretched him- 
self out 'in the pointed bow of the boat, enduring, as best he might, 
the slurs of laziness which were put upon him. He would have 
gladly taken his turn in rowing, but was too clumsy, as yet, to- 
be tolerated. 

One late afternoon, as they were floating about, rather than row- 
ing, among the shady nooks of a narrow part of the lake, Mrs. 
Horner exclaimed, 

" Augusta ! we have never told you about the Stuy vesants ! " 

"What about them.?" asked Miss Lejeune. 

" They have left Paris and come home to live." 

" Impossible ! " she replied. " Leave their beloved Avenue Jose- 
phine ! I can't believe it." 

"Nevertheless I have seen them," replied Mrs. Horner. " Thev 
are at the Fifth Avenue Hotel; all their furniture is stored some- 
where. Miss Stuyvesant is to come out in New York next win- 
ter ; they mean to s])end the summer in Newport, and they are 
looking about for a place for the twins." 

" Well, well ! " ejaculated Miss Lejeune. 



THE CHIME OF BELLS. 



129 



"Mamma thinks," called out Tom from his oar, "that I had 
best take the boys to Utopia for the summer." 

"And you do not approve of her plan?" said Miss Lejeune, in- 
quiringly. 

"The boys are nothing but a couple of monkeys," grumbled 













huffrt's private practice. 

Tom, "and if they are in mv charge, I had best engage a hand- 
organ at once, to go with them." 

"They may have improved," suggested Miss Augusta; "how old 
are they now.?" 

"Two years younger than I am," said Tom. " Come, Bessie, pull 
all you can, and let us trv, if we can, to turn the corner in time 
to see the sun go down." 

While they were both silent, putting all their forces into their 



130 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



rowing, the grown-up people at their end of the boat went on dis- 
cussing the Stuyvesants. 

"Mr. Horner thinks," said his wife, "that their investments are 
down, and so they want to retrench." 

"The worst thing they can do^ then, is to try and live in New 
York and Newport." 

"Yes; but their establishment at Paris was very extravagant; if 
they give up their horses and their apartment there, they can 
manage more simply for a year or two, and then if their income 
improves, they can go back again." 

" RcciLler pour viiciix Santera remarked Miss Lejeune ; then sud- 
denly changing her tone, exclaimed, with every one else in the boat, 

" Oh, how lovely ! " 

Vigorous pulls of the rowers had brought the boat round a 
wooded corner to an open space, where the shores receded and lay 
flat before them, just in time to see the sun go down in a cloud- 
less sky, a ball of living fire. 

Tom and Bessie, panting, rested upon their oars. The little party 
watched the sun setting until the last rim had disappeared. 

"We ought to go home now," remarked Mrs. Horner; "it will 
be growing cool directly." 

"Who are these Stuyvesants.?" called out Hubert from the end 
of the boat. 

" They are some boys who were with us on the Nile," replied 
Tom; "they were small, ill-bred creatures, who had not the 
faintest idea of minding what anybody told them, least of all their 
father; as for their mother, she had no idea of telling them any- 
thing." 

"Tom! Tom!" called his father in a warning voice. 
"You arc hard on them, really, Tom," said Bessie. "One of 
them was rather nice, though I do not recollect which ; but Mary 
could manage them.'' 

"I say," began Hubert, "let us have them come to Utopia, Tom; 



THE CHIME OF BELLS. 



I4.i 



you've no idea how dull it is there withojt any fellows, only a o^irl 
to talk with all day long." 

"Only a girl! thank you!" said Bessie. 

"There are girls aud girls, you know. Bessie," quickly replied 
■Hubert. " Alice Martin is all very well, but " — 

"Tell us all about her," said Bessie; and Hubert, sitting up in 
his end of the boat, began an account, lively for him, of his 
acquaintance with Alice Martin, his adventure in the barn, and 
other tales of his life in Utopia. 

" I think," said Bessie condescendingly, " that Alice must be a 
nice girl." 

*' But if there were other boys, we could have all sorts of o-ood 
excursions, and build huts in the woods, and that," pursued Hubert • 
"'^ especially little boys whom we could make mind." 

"You wait and see if you can make these boys mind," grumbled 
Tom. 

However, he did not vigorously oppose the scheme. Mr. Horner 
knew the Bruces wanted to fill up their house with boys for the 
summer, and he thought the chances were more in favor of two 
boys they already knew something about, than entire strangers. It 
was decided that he might as well talk to Mr. Stuyvesant about 
it, who was a sensible man. 



• r — — : . . 

! L... ^ __.: 

[__. ____ I 



134 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUXD HOME. 



CHAPTER XV. 



FRENCH AND ENGLISH CAMPAIGNS. 



THE English were not disposed to allow their F"rench enemie& 
the control of the two lakes, and Colonel Johnson was already 
making preparations to attack Crown Point when he learned that 
the French had firmly established themselves at Ticonderoga. The 
French general, Baron Dieskau, sent to defend Crown Point, deter- 
mined to advance upon the English, at their encampment upon 
Lake George. In this encounter the French were driven off, and 
Dieskau was mortally wounded. Johnson did not pursue them, or 
at that time make any attempt upon their works at Lake Cham- 
plain. The rest of the campaign of 1755 was spent by the Eng- 
lish in erecting a fort at the south end of Lake George, which 
was called William Henry, after the Duke of Cumberland. Up to 
this time, their nearest stronghold was Fort Edward, at the south- 
ern end of Lake George. 

At this time, the French side had the advantage of being con- 
trolled by a man of great heroism and courage. Louis Joseph de 
St. Veran, Marquis de Montcalm, was born in France in 171 2. 
He entered the army when fourteen years old, and had served 
bravely in several campaigns, when, in 1756, being then a brigadier- 
general, he was appointed to command the French troops in Canada. 

As soon as he arrived, he began operations against the English 
with great activity and success, making the field of his exertions 
the southern end of Lake Champlain. For this purpose, he col- 
lected at Crown Point and Ticonderoga all his forces, consisting 
of regular troops, Canadians and Indians. As early as the twen- 



FRENCH AND ENGLISH CAMPAIGNS. 



185 



tieth of March, 1757, he attacked Fort William Henry, but his 
object was defeated by the bravery of the garrison there, which 
Colonel Monroe was then sent to reinforce. The day after his 
arrival, the French and Indians, under Montcalm, again appeared 
upon the lake, effected a landing with but little opposition, and 
immediately laid siege to the fort. Montcalm at the same time 
sent a letter to Monroe, stating that he felt himself bound in 
humanity to urge the English commander to surrender before any 
of the Indians were slain and their savage temper further inflamed 




DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE. 



by a resistance which would be unavailing. Monroe replied that 
as the fortress had been entrusted to him, both his honor and 
his duty required him to defend it to the last extremity. 

The garrison, amounting to only twenty-five hundred men, made 
a gallant defence, while Monroe, aware of his danger, sent frequent 
expresses for succor to Fort Edward, farther south, the head^ 



136 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUXD IIOMI.. 

quarters at that time of the English commander, GcnerrJ Webb. 
But Webb remained inactive and apparently indilTcrcnt during these 
alarming transactions. On the eighth or ninth d.:y of the siege 
General Johnson was permitted to set out for Fort William Henry 
with some troops ; but he had proceeded only three miles when 
he received orders from Webb for his immediate return, Webb 
at the same time advising Munroe to surrender on the best terms 
he could obtain. 

Munroe and his garrison had defended themselves with much 
spirit, in hourly expectation of relief from Fort Edward, till the 
ninth of August, when all their hopes were blasted by the recep- 
tion of Webb's letter, which Montcalm had intercepted, and now 
sent in with further proposals of a surrender of the fort. 

Articles of capitulation were therefore signed, and no further 
trouble was apprehended. But the Indians belonging to the French 
army attached no importance to the pledge made by their general 
for the safety of the conquered enemy. The garrison had no sooner 
marched out of the fort than they fell upon the defenceless 
soldiers, plundering and murdering all who came in their way. 
On this fatal day more than half the English were either mur- 
dered by the savage's, or carried by them into captivity, never to 
return. The fort was entirely demolished ; the barracks, out-houses 
and building were a heap of ruins ; the cannons, stores, boats and 
vessels were all carried away. 

The French, satisfied with their success, retired to their works 
at Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and for that year nothing more 
was done cither by French or English in this quarter. The Eng- 
lish had suffered much in loss of life and property, and had 
gained nothing. This want of success was chiefly owing to the inef- 
ficiency and ignorance of the Britisli ministry in relation to American 
affairs, which led as a natural result, to want of ability and energy 
in the generals to whom (he prosecution of the war was entrusted, a 
deficiency made conspicuous by the talent and boldness of Montcalm. 



FREXCU AND ENGLISH CAMl'AlGNfei. 1:^,7 

The next year, however, the tables were turned. The repeated 
failure of the British arms in America created so much dissatis- 
faction both at home and in the colonies, that a change was found 
indispensable in the conduct of affairs, which began to assume a 
more favorable aspect. Instead of defeat and disgrace, victory and 
triumph now usually attended the English arms. 

On the other hand, the personal bravery of Montcalm, although 
it raised his popularity with his soldiers, could not redeem the want 
of energy of the French government. There was dissension in the 
-councils of the governor of Canada and the commander. Even in 
the midst of victory, Montcalm predicted that in the end the 
English would be masters of the French colonies in America. 
Resolved, however, to struggle to the last, and as he himself said, 
to find his grave under the ruins of the colony, he actively car- 
ried on the campaign. 

The English determined that the French settlements should be 
attacked at several points at once ; one of these was the strong- 
hold at Ticonderoga. The fort was favorably situated for defence, 
as can still be easily seen. It was surrounded on three sides by 
vv^ater, and about half the other side was protected by a deep 
-swamp, while the line of defence was completed by tlie erection of 
a breastwork nine feet high. The ground before this breastwork 
v/as covered with felled trees and bushes, to impede the approach 
of the enemy. 

The English general, Abercrombie, believing that this, place 
might be attacked with a fair prospect of success, marched forward, 
imdismayed by the heavy fire from the French, till they became 
^entangled and stopped by the timber. For four hours they strove 
with their swords to cut their way to the breastwork, through 
branches and bushes, but the attempt was futile. At last they 
retreated, with severe loss, and were forced to hasten back to their 
encampment at Lake George. 

Everywhere else the British troops had been successful, and in 



138 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

spite of the unlucky defeat at Ticonderoga, the confidence of the 
colonists began to revive, and that of the French to languish. 

The next year the French, dreading an attack which was in 
preparation, abandoned the fortress at Ticonderoga, and repaired t& 
Crown Point. This also they relinquished later in the summer, with- 
out destroying their works. 

While this was taking place on Lake Champlain, the brave 
Montcalm was concentrating his forces at Quebec, where General 
Wolfe, with a large army, presented himself. The success of the 
conquest of Canada depended upon the taking of that city. 

The battle on the Heights of Abraham, which decided the con- 
test, took place September 13, 1759. Both generals were deter- 
mined to conquer or die ; both fell at the head of their respective 
armies. The English carried the day, and the French were defeated^ 
dispersed or made prisoners. 

Montcaltn, having received one musket ball early in the action, 
was mortally wounded while attempting to rally son)e fugitive 
Canadians. On being told his death was near, he said, "So much 
the better ; 1 shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 

He died the next morning, and his death was followed by the 
loss to France of Canada. 

"I should like to go to Quebec," said Miss Lejeune, adding, "do 
you mean to visit all the battle-fields of American history.?" with 
a smile, as she addressed Mr. Horner. 

" I am afraid wc shall not hold out to do that." he replied. 
"There are many other places of equal interest to Ticonderoga, 
merely looking at the story of these French and English contests 
for territory. It seems as if one place might serve as a sort of 
specimen for all. If we become interested in the scene of a part 
of the struggle, and study carefully the actual ground over which the 
contending parties came and went, we shall acquire a living knowledge 
of the whole. Of course it is to be remembered thnt this spot was 
hut one point in the struggle going on all along the line. The 




PAUL REVERE'S ride. 




FRENCH AND ENGLISH CAMPAIGNS. 141 

story of Braddock's defeat, at Fort Du Ouesne, and the subsequent 
taking of it, is just as interesting as that of the events we are 
now looking at ; the fact that Washington was there engaged makes 
it perhaps more so. But," he added, " I doubt if the neighborhood 
is so picturesque." 

On the site of Fort Du Ouesne, in the western part of Penn- 
sylvania, the "city of Pittsburg now stands, and blackens the neigh- 
borhood with the smoke of its many chimneys. It 
was a post contested, like Ticonderoga, between 
French and English. Washington, then a young 
man, selected the spot for an English fort. The 
French drove away the workmen employed upon it, 
and finished the fort themselves, calling it Fort Du 
Quesne. A veteran English army was sent there "^ 

under General Braddock, with Washington as a staff \ . -l, ^3 

oflicer, but the General was defeated, and mortally 

C.EN. DRADDOCK. 

wounded. This took place July 9, 1755. 

Three years after, Washington was again sent to Fort Du Ouesne, 
and took it at last. These events had great consequences among 
the colonists. They taught them that the red coats were not in- 
vincible, and in the training of battle, they themselves were pre- 
paring for the greater struggle against the same generals who were 
now their commanders. 

General Wolfe, the English commander at Quebec, displayed 
as much bravery as his French opponent. Hubert and Bessie had 
a quarrel over their respective merits, Hubert taking the side of 
the EngHsh hero, Bessie teasing him with her preference for the 
French. 

"Oh, come along, Hubert!" cried Tom, "what do you care for 
either of them } Come down to the lake for a row." 



142 A FAMII.Y FIJ(4HT AROUND HOiME. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



LAKE GEORGE. 



NOTHING induced Tom to take an interest in these historical 
discussions. He was tall, strong and active, with a fine ap- 
petite, and thorough enjoyment of muscular exercises. He had never 
been known to devote himself to books, and was the only Horner 
without a decided aptitude for foreign languages. On the other 
hand, he was of a most genial, sociable disposition, and \vas a 
general favorite wherever he went, among schoolfellows, young ladies, 
.and especially matrons, to whom he had naturally an attractive, 
gratifying manner of addressing himself. 

Bessie was extremely pleased with Hubert's lately developed 
taste for lier favorite pursuit of history, and if she loved to disa- 
gree with him, it was to discover how well he could defend his 
■own side of the question. 

"Hubert," she said, "how did you come upon all this knowledge 
about Wolfe and the Heights of Abraham.?" 

" Why, I have been reading about it, with Professor Bruce. 
You will like him, Bessie; he is just loaded to the muzzle with 
facts." 

After a charming week at Ticonderoga, our party left that place, 
and crossed Lake George, one afternoon, to Caldwell, at the head, 
or soutiiern end, of that lake. Here they established themselves at 
the huge Fort William Henry Hotel, built actually on the site of 
the old fort, witli a fine view down the lake. 

They found Lake George even more picturesque than its far 
larger companion, and plentifully supplied with points of historic 



LAKE GEORGE. ]4:'. 

interest of which the stories are, with time, becoming legends, like 
those of the Old World. 

"The only difficulty with our early history," said Miss Lejeune, 
•*• is that we still have to see it too near. It is like these hills 




LAKE GEORGE. 



in this clear atmosphere. They were intended to 'carry' for a long 
distance, and we come close up to them, like an amateur critic in 
a picture gallery." 



J44 A FAMILY FLK4HT AliOUxXD HOME. 

-Time is remedying that, Augusta, as fast as it can; it is 
already two centuries and a lialf since the first white man saw 
Lake George," said Mr. Horner. 

This was a Jesuit priest, Father Jogues, who was brought hither 
as a prisoner by Iroquois, in 1642, thirty-three years after Cham- 
plam had terrified the savages so that they fled in terror from 
his murderous weapons, to their home on the Mohawk. Smce 
then they themselves had been supplied with firearms, and learned 
the use of them, and now their turn of revenge was come. They 
took the war-path and infested the forests all over the country like 
ravening wolves. It was one of these hostile bands that had attacked 
Father ''jogues and his companions as he was returning with sup- 
plies from Quebec to a far-off mission where he was doing his best 
to give to Indians the faith and benefit of civilized life. 

Having seized these captives, the savages returned with them, 
inflicting horrid tortures to their home on the Mohawk, and thus 
they came, after passing "the chiming waters" at Ticonderoga, to 
the shores of the beautiful lake sleeping in the depths of the 
limited forest, the fairest gem of the wilderness. 

Jogues remained among the Mohawks for nearly a year, a cap- 
tive; in the midst of his suff-erings, he lost no opportunity to con- 
vert' his tormentors to Christianity. In a lonely spot in the forest 
he cut bark from a large tree into the form of a cross, before 
which, half-clad in furs, he used to kneel in prayer upon the frozen 

ground. 

One of bis companions tliey adopted into one of tl,e,r lamii.es; 
the other they killed. At last, after a year of sulfern,;;, Jogues 
managed to escape, and was secreted by the Dutch at fort Orange, 
near Albany. These l<in.l-hcarted people paid a large ransom for 
bin,, and gave him a tree passage home to I'rance. He arrived 
in lirittany, his native place, one Christmas day, an.l was rece.ved 
bv his friends, who had heard of his captivity, as one risen fron, 
the dead, lie was treated everywhere with nnngled reverence .and 



LAKE GEOKGE. 



145 



curiosity, and was summoned to court, where the Queen Anne of 
Austria kissed the poor mutilated hands of the slave of the Mo- 
hawks. 

He returned to Canada, and twice revisited the country of the 
Mohawks ; the second time was the last, for he was treacherously 
slain by the savages, for whom he had done so much. He was 
struck on the head with a tomahawk as he entered a wigwam 




SHELVING ROCK, — LAKE GEORGE. 

where he had been invited to supper. His head was cut off and 
displayed upon one of the palisades that surrounded the village. 
His body they threw into the river. 

Lake George is thirty-six miles long, but so narrow that it seems 
everywhere like a river. The shores are steep and rocky in some 
places ; as at the spot called Rogers Slide, where Major Robert 
Rogers was chased to the edge of the cliff by Indians, in the winter 
of 1758. Hidden from them for a few moments, he managed to turn 
round upon his snow-shoes, and retreated from the edge of the cliff, so 
that his tracks, being reversed, made it appear as if he had cast him 



146 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 



self over it. He slid down the ravine close at hand, and when 
the Indians came up a few minutes later, they saw him skimming 
away over the ice towards Fort William Henry, and attributed his 
escape to the protection of the Great Spirit. 

Lake George is now quiet and still, but for the daily steam- 
boats which in summer ply across it from end to end; but it was 
the scene of imposing spectacles during the contests of French 
and English. In 1758, the English army advanced up the lake 
with sixteen thousand men, in large bateaux, convoyed by gun- 
boats, all brilliant with rich uniforms and waving banners, while 
the music of the regimental bands echoed among' the hills. A 
few days later the scattered and defeated army passed back up 
the lake, having left half their number dead and dying under the 
walls of Fort Carillon; this was the time of the unsuccessful at- 
tack among the bushes and timber. The next year another mar- 
tial procession crossed the lake, and this march was soon followed 
by the Conquest of Canada. 

Cooper's novel, "The Last of the Mohicans," has for its plot and 
situation the campaign at Fort William Henry. The story is 
very exciting, and though highly colored, adheres closely to the 
facts. The Red Indian as depicted by Cooper is a more romantic, 
emotional being than it is possible to consider him after reading 
Parkman's description of his characteristics; but the painted figure 
seems better for a romance than the cold reality. 

The description of Fort William Henry in the novel is faithful 
to the scene. 

"Directly on the shore of the lake, and nearer to its western 
than its eastern margin, lay the extensive earthen ramparts and 
low buildings of the Fort. Two of the sweeping bastions appeared 
to rest on the water, which washed their base, while a deep ditch 
and extensive morasses guarded its other sides and angles. The 
land had been cleared of wood for a reasonable distance around 
the work, but every other part of the scene lay in the green 



■ J¥ ' ' 




PUTNAM SAVINC FORT EDWARD. 



LAKE GEORGE. 14<j 

livery of nature, except where the limpid water mellowed the view, 
or the bold rocks thrust their black and naked heads above the 
undulating outlines of the mountain ranges. In front, numerous 
islands rested on the bosom of the lake, some low and sunken, 
as if imbedded in the waters, others appearing to hover over it 
in little hillocks of green velvet." 

If Montcalm were responsible for the massacre by his Indians 
which followed upon the surrender of Fort William Henry, it 
would be a dark blot upon his reputation as a hero. There is 
reason to believe, however, that the conduct of these savages was 
beyond his control. 

This was a subject upon which Bessie and Hubert could never 
agree, Bessie defending her general because he was French, and 
Hubert taking the view of Cooper, that the event left a stain upon 
the reputation of Montcalm, not erased by his early and glorious 
death. 

Fort Edward, built in 1755, was a post of military importance 
as the point on the Hudson where troops and stores were landed 
to pass to Lake Champlain, a distance of only twenty-five miles, 
which, however, in those early days, was a difficult passage, beset 
with savages. It was built of logs and earth, and surrounded by a 
deep ditch. 

The whole neighborhood which the Horners were now visiting is 
as interesting for scenes in the Revolutionary War as for the earlier 
ones described ; but Hubert did not yet care so much for the 
later events, having, as he said, not come to them yet. 

"Well, Hubert," said Bessie, "when you have studied up the 
Revolutionary War, we will come again, and see all the places we 
have overlooked now, or neglected." 

" I think Hubert will find it more interesting to read about 
the struggle of independence, now that he knows who the men 
were, and what material they were made of, that entered into it, 
and carried it through to the end." 



150 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"Yes, Hubert, you read all about it, and tell me anything you 
think may really improve my mind," said Tom, as he stretched 
himself out on the hard sofa of the hotel parlor, with a bundle 
of shawls under his head. 

They had come in from a long excursion on which there had 
been too much talking of old battle-fields, too much standing round, 
and too little straight-ahead, steady exercise to suit Tom, and he 
professed himself entirely used up. Tom was a good sleeper, and 
equally good for a ten-mile walk or a three hours' nap. 

In about five minutes he was fast asleep. His mother carefully 
threw something over him to protect him from an open window 
near, and they all left him to his slumbers. 




SCHROON LAKE. 151 



CHAPTER XVII. 



SCHROON LAKE. 



AMONG the many pleasant excursions which the Horners made 
about Lake George was one especially desired by Bessie, 
on account of its name. 

Schroon Lake lies at the foot of one of the mountain ranges of 
the Adirondack region, and Schroon river w'nds through its deep 
valleys. This name was given to the lake and river by the early 
French settlers at Crown Point, in honor of Madame Scarron, wife 
of the celebrated French dramatist, Paul Scarron, and afterwards 
herself celebrated as Madame de Maintenon. 

Bessie was delighted when she found that Schroon was a contraction 
of Scarron. Doubtless some admirer of the poet, or of his young 
and beautiful wife, who had frequented their beautiful salons in Paris, 
named the stream and river in their honor, which he found in lonely 
wanderings in the wilds of a new world. On the old maps, the 
name is always written Scarron. 

Fran^oise d' Aubigne was born in prison, where her father, a 
worthless baron, passed many years. He died afterwards in pov- 
erty, and Frangoise became a mere drudge in the service of a 
countess, her godmother, minding poultry in the farmyard in a 
peasant's dress and wooden shoes. 

In the same street lived the poet Scarron, a paralytic and crip- 
ple. Becoming interested in the poor girl, he fell in love with 
her, and offered himself in marriage. She was seventeen, and he 
more than twice her age, but she accepted him. The house of 
Scarron became the resort of the best intellects of Paris. 



152 



' A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



After the death of her husband, Madame Scarron, as governess 
of the children of Louis the Fourteenth, so captivated that king, 





Ji«,.#';M*^^^^ 



that after the death of his queen, 
Maria Theresa, he married her 
in secret. Thus she became the 
Queen of France, in fact, though 
not in name. The king settled 
upon her the large estate of Main- 
tenon, and made her Marquise de 
Maintenon. For thirty years she 
cxercisea a remarkable influence 
( vcr the destinies of France. 

In many ways the advice she gave the 

.mg was good and useful : she made him 

think more about religion than he had 

ever done before, but she encouraged his 

j,j„^.^,, ^,. dislike to the Huguenots, and it was in 

liarmony with her inclinations that he 

revoked thi- Indict of Nantes, by which these French Protestants 

had hitherto been protected. 



SCHROON LAKE. I53 

It was such severity towards the Protestants which made enemies 
for Louis in all the countries of Europe, amongst them William 
of Orange, who had become king of England. 

"In short, Bessie," said her father, "we may consider that the 
lady who gave her name to this lake was the cause of all the 
bloodshed in its neighborhood for the last two hundred years." 

"That is putting it rather strong, papa," she answered, "for the 
French and English would have quarrelled about the land anyhow, 
and the Indians would have taken different sides." 

The war between England and France, known as King William's 
War, which lasted from 1689 to 1697, involved the American col- 
onies. It was during this war that some of the Indians became 
the allies of the French, while the English were friendly with the 
Iroquois — the Five Nations who inhabited Central New York. 

"Queen Anne's War" was in Europe the War of the Spanish 
Succession, beginning in 1702, ending with the Treaty of Utrecht, 
in 1 71 3. This was 
the last of Louis the 
Fourteenth's wars, as 
he died in 171 5. In 
this war the colonies 
were involved ; the 

frontiers of New Eng- \ ^jizr-rkzz -'1 "'".r ^~ \~-=i>:i^ 

land were kept in con- 

tinual aJarm. 1 he garrison house, in deerkielu, .viAab. 

town of Deerfield, in 

Massachusetts, was attacked and destroyed by a party of French 
and Indians, and for several years the frontiers of Canada and 
New England were the continued scene of massacre and devasta- 
tion. This was a war of religions, for both on the Continent and 
in America, Protestant English were arrayed against Roman Catholic 
French. 

" King George's War," called after George the Second, is the same 




''----^-|!p^^!|^^i|5!fal**«*. -^.^^ 




154 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



as the war about the Austrian Succession ; the Protestant coun- 
tries of Europe, England and Holland, defending the claim of 
Maria Theresa against Frederick the Great, and also France and 
Spain, who took up the cause of her opponent, the Elector of 

Bavaria. War was declared between 
France and England in 1744; Louis 
the Fifteenth had succeeded his grand- 
father on the French throne; and 
George the Third was reigning; 
in England. Again the colonies 
shared in the warfare. In 1748 
'^'\ a treaty was concluded 
at Aix-la-Chapelle, by 
which all nations were 
pacified, and peace 
•. prevailed in Europe; 
but in America the 
encroachments of 
France on the English 
led to resistance, and the events of 
which Lake George and Lake Champlain 
'" HTCHKiM'LANi-. wcre the scene, preceded the outbreak of 
the Seven Years' War in Europe. 
The Horners had a whole day going to and coming from the 
lake named after Madame Scarron. They found the way beautiful 
with flowers, some of them new to all. Hubert wished for Pro- 
fessor Bruce, who would have told them all about the botany. 

Beautiful blue flags grew in a sort of bog, where there was kalmia 
different from the common sheep's laurel, or the splendid kalmia 
latifolia, not yet in blossom. They found, too, the curious side- 
saddle-flower {Samccnia) with its pitcher-shaped leaves. 

In 1749, when Indians, French and English were enjoying a 
short peace, but all sharpening their weapons for renewed contest^ 




SCHROON LAKE. I55 

Peter Kalm, a Swedish botanist, travelled over this region. He 
made discoveries of many plants not known in Europe, and gave 
his name to the kalmia. 

The long sunny day on which they took this expedition was the 
last day of their stay at Lake George. On the next they went to 
Fort Edward, where the party separated, Hubert and Tom escort- 
ing Mrs. Horner and Bessie to Utopia, by the way of Rutland 
and Burlington, whence the way was the same as that by which 
Hubert had joined them. 

Miss Lejeune and Mr. Horner returned to New York, where 
each had affairs to look after. A fortnight had slipped by among 
the associations and legends of early warfare on the lakes, and it 
was now the middle of June. 

"Well, aunt Dut," said Bessie, as they stood on the platform, 
" I am sorry to part from you. I wish you were coming with 
us to Utopia." 

"So do I," said Hubert. "I am sure you would enjoy it. Miss 
Augusta. You would have immense fun with Professor Bruce. 
He is a great talker, and there is nothing he does not know." 

"Perhaps I will come later," said Miss Lejeune; "but having 
once surrendered myself to a summer of visits, there is no end 
to engagements. It really requires book-keeping by double entry to 
keep the run of them. As soon as my trunks are ready, I am 
off for Beverly, then Nahant, and so on. I am only afraid," she 
added, in a low tone to Bessie, "that your mother will be fear- 
fully bored at Utopia." 

"I do not believe she will stay long," replied Bessie. "You 
know papa also thought it would be too dull, but she was pos- 
sessed with the idea she would enjoy some real country. You 
know Philip's vacation begins soon, and I think he will invent 
something for her." 

"How about yourself, Bessie.'" asked Miss Lejeune; "it i.s- 
rather tame for vou, settling down here in Vermont." 



15t5 A FAIVJILY FLIGHT AROUND HUME. 

"Tame with my old Hubert here to squabble with and in- 
struct," exclaimed Bessie, "and Tom besides: I assure you, we 
are going to have a wildly exciting summer, are we not, Tom?" 

Tom and his father were walking up and down the platform, 
while Mrs. Horner was resting in a rocking-chan- in the ladies' 
waiting-room. They joined the conversation. 

" It will be wildly exciting if my father sends us the Stuyve- 
sant boys," said Tom; "we have just been talking about that." 

"I shall go and see Stuyvesant directly," said Mr. Horner, 
"and see what he thinks of the plan. Meanwhile you must lay it 
before the Bruces. If it is decided the boys are to come, I can 
bring them with me next week or so, whenever I find time to 
come up. 

"You see," he continued, speaking to Miss Lejeune, "this 
troublesome affair of Brown's I was telling you about, will keep me 
pretty close to New York all summer; but it will not be diffi- 
cult to run up to Utopia occasionally to see how the family 
agree." 

"Of all of us," cried Bessie, "you, papa, have arranged the 
vilest programme for yourself!" 

" My dear, I feel quite light-hearted at the idea of a hard- 
working summer. I want to prove to my own satisfaction that 
several years' travelling has not unfitted me for it." 

The scheme presented to Mr. Stuyvesant pleased him greatly, 
and was carrictl out, as the Bruces did not object to receiving 
the twins. 

Mrs. Horner and Bessie, as the boys expected, were delighted 
with the drive over the mountain from East Utopia. The road 
tlirough llie woods was carpeted with mosses, ferns, and the bright 
red partridge berry. 

" It looked very different, you had better believe, when I was 
here before," said Tom, remembering with a shiver the snow-cov- 
<ived landscape. It was now the perfection of early midsummer. 



SCHROON LAKE. 



159 



The woods were full of kalmia latifolia, mountain laurel, in dense 
thickets sometimes twenty feet high. There was one place where 
it grew upon a slope surrounding a little pond like an amphithea- 
tre, and here the masses of its bright pink blossoms prevailed 
over the green of the foliage. 

"It is like a pink snow storm!" cried Hubert. 

They drove slowly up the hill to the homestead towards the 
«nd of the afternoon. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce were both awaiting 
them on the doorstep, and Alice ran across from her house as 
soon as she saw the wagon in the distance, for which she was 
on the watch. 

" Look, Mrs. Horner ! is not the view lovely ? " demanded 
Hubert. 

The broad river below swept away for several miles ; across it 
were the hills of New Hampshire, now brilliant with the perfect 
greens of June. Opposite, the sun was already giving golden 
tones to the scene as he approached the west. 




A BIT OF THE LAKE. 



160 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

A POND LILY PICNIC. 

MR. HORNER went back to New York, the Stuyvesant boys- 
came, and little Mrs. Bruce had a house full, and her 
hands full of responsibilities, for which she was quite equal. 
Reinforced by two friendly young ladies in the kitchen, " who did 
not mind helpin' Mrs. Bruce for a spell, seein' she had so many 
to do for," the housekeeping ran smoothly enough. 

Bessie and her mother occupied the "best spare," a room con- 
tammg the most stately furniture of the house; a huge mahogany 
four-post bedstead, with a delightful " qmlt," occupied one side of 
the room between the windows. The first night when tired Bes- 
sie threw herself upon this bed, she found herself sinking down, 
down, to unknown depths. She shrieked for help to her mother 
and Mrs. Bruce, who having come up-stairs late, were chatting in 
the doorway. They came and rescued her. The down was eider- 
down. Mrs. Bruce sat down in the rocking chair and laughed a 
quiet little laugh she had. 

" That's Lavinia Mary's doing," she said. " She must have brought 
the down-bed from the garret on purpose to make you comforta- 
ble. In January it might have been hospitably imagined, but to- 
night ! " 

Bessie was afraid of making trouble, but she was so sure that 
her mother would be smothered during the night if she tried sleep- 
ing in a bed of eider-down, that she allowed Mrs. Bruce to pull 
it off, and lent her help in re-making the bed, of which the basi5> 
was an excellent hair-mattress. 



A POND LILY PICNIC. Igl 

The kingdom of the boys was up stairs. Two large rooms occu- 
pied the whole front of the house, behind which, in an L, down 
a few steps, and over the "Hall," was the garret where Molly 
Stark's bonnet lived. 

At first the Stuyvesants were very meek and well behaved, and 
as Tom and Hubert did not wish to encourage over familiarity, 
the door of communication between the rooms was kept closed! 
Later on — but it is unwise to anticipate. 

It was a very cheerful party; and the time it shone to best 
advantage was at breakfast-time. Mrs. Bruce believed in feeding 

young and growing persons. The things she had for breakfast 

were likely to tempt the most 

timid appetite, and delight the 

most robust. 

The table was adorned with a 

bunch of wild roses. Mr. Bruce 

sat at his end of it, and admin- 
istered broiled chicken, and ham 

and eggs. Mrs. Bruce, opposite 

him, poured out steaming coffee 

with boiled milk and real cream 

in it; and Lavinia Mary came 

in at intervals of five minutes, 

with plates of steaming griddles 

which she applied all round the 

table with appropriate remarks. 

"Now, Mrs. Horner, you'll have 

another. What ! given out al- 
ready .? Well, I declare! I told Belinda I thought you'd take once 

more. Mr. Hubert will, I know. Land's sakes, he's just begun. 
Well, there's plenty more batter; it ris well this time. Now, Mr. 
Augustine ! " 

The boys, Ernest and Augustine Stuyvesant, were pale, thin boys, 




WILD ROSES. 



162 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



looking as if they had had too much between meals in the way 
of candy and fruit. Even at Utopia, their leading idea of filling 

up the time was to go over 
and spend their 
. f u 1 pocket 
on certain 
fofe balls of 
sweetness, 




asked 
on all 

which 



one of which 
entirel)'" filled 
the mouth 
and precluded 
speech until 
disappeared, 
iruce hoped to 
:t this practice 
by feeding them heartily 
at regular hours, and giv- 
ing them plenty of more ra- 
tional employment in the intervals of 
regular meals. 

"What are you going to do to-day?" 

the professor, for lessons had not yet begun. It was agreed 

hands that there should be an interval of real vacation, 

was to close on this seventeenth of June with some occasion 



rM)KK I 111. I I'll- 



A POND LILY PICNIC. 1^3 

^worthy to celebrate together the anniversary of the Battle or Bunker 
Hill. 

In plans of amusement, Hubert took the place of master of 
•ceremonies, on account of his prior knowledge of the place. This 
:seemed very funny to Tom, who was well accustomed to be the 
leader, especially with Hubert, but he willingly accepted, though for 
this occasion only, the part of second fiddler. 

Therefore he remained silent, putting his hands in his pockets 
and tipping back his chair, a custom which Mrs. Horner disap- 
proved of, but which 
gentle Mrs. Bruce al- 
lowed, while Hubert 
replied : 

" Alice says, sir, 
that there are pond 
lilies out in the pond 
beyond the upper 
farm, and we thought 
we might go up and 
picnic there." 

" Pond lilies so ear- 
ly ! I can hardly be- 
lieve it ! " replied the 
professor. 

" She saw two of 
Burdick's boys with 
some yesterday, and 
they told her where 
they got them." 
The professor roamed off into the library, and find- 
ing the right page in his Gm/s Manual, glanced at the pencil 
annotations in the margin, giving the dates when he had found 
lilies in previous years. 




POND LILIES. 



164 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

"Well, yes, — 'June 17, 1865;' — yes, there may be some; at any 
rate, it is a delightful place to go to." 

" We thought, sir, we might go up the big river in the two 
boats, and then push the little boat through the creek, so as to- 
have it in the pond to get the lilies." 

" It's flat and swampy there ; you cannot get the boat through,. 
I'm afraid," objected the professor. 

" We can try," said Hubert with a smile. 

" We can try " was a form of expression beloved of Professor 
Bruce in connection with mental problems. 

"May I come in?" asked Alice, pushing wider open the front 
door, which was already ajar, and close to the dining-room. 

Alice was still terribly afraid of Bessie, stood in awe of Tom, 
had her doubts about Ernest and Augustine, and even found her 
relations with Hubert changed, now that he was no longer depen- 
dent on her for society. She liked the fun of such a crowd, as 
she called it, but looked back with some regret on the delight- 
ful quarrelling days when she and Hubert had the whole of Utopia 
to themselves. 

"What's this, Alice, about pond lilies?" asked the professor. 

" I have brought this one to show you, sir ; it is not a very 
good one, but the Burdicks wouldn't let me have any other." 

" It is three days old," he replied ; " that shows they are well for- 
ward ; if that is so, we may find cardinals too." 

"That ham, marm," said Lavinia Mary, "is just in the condi- 
tion for sandwidches." 

Mrs. Bruce, thus reminded of the material part of a picnic, 
now asked who was going. 

" I do not like these marine excursions," said Mrs. Horner, 
who had heard the suggestion of boats, "and think I may be 
counted out." 

"My dear madam," said the Professor gallantly,. "I propose to 
leave the young people to solve the boat problem. I will put. 



A POND LILY PICNIC. 1^5 

I^ucy in the carryall, and take you and my wife, and any one 
€lse, indeed, who cares for dry feet." 

"Then do start soon," cried Hubert, "for we want to get back 
tbefore dark." 

Lucy was not a very fast horse. 

"The baskets can go with us, then," said Mrs. Bruce, and 
she withdrew with her adviser- 
in-chief to prepare the substan- 
tial. 

The young people darted off, 
careless of preparations, to the 
shore of the river. Only Bes- 
sie paused to offer her services, 
but Lavinia Mary called out. 
"Now you go with them. Miss 
Bessie, and we'll see all is right." 




"Dear mama, Fm so glad you are going," cried Bessie; "do you 
mind taking this book.? I may get a chance to read to Hubert." 



166 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

"O Bessie!" cried her mother, "don't try to improve his 
mind to-day ! " 

"But it is interesting, mama!" and she was off. The book- 
was Parkman's Pontiac. 

Bessie could not be missed from the rowing party, for she- 
pulled the best oar, except Tom. She therefore manned one 
boat, he the other. She took Hubert, Tom took Alice, and the. 
twins were equally divided between the two boats. 

They proceeded but slowly up the stream, but the current close 
to the shore was not strong, and the distance not more than quarter 
of a mile. The tug of war was at the entrance of a sluggish, 
little creek through a swamp thickly grown with marsh grass. 
The smaller boat was left below, where a good landing could be 
made. Alice and the twins were sent round by a dry path to 
the pond, while Hubert and Tom pulled off their shoes and 
stockings, rolled up their trousers and became outside passengers. 
Bessie stayed in the boat to pole with an oar and to guide the 
flat-bottomed craft. She pushed, the boys tugged. They stuck in. 
the mud, but got off again. The channel became narrower and 
narrower. Bessie had to alight on a rock, while they lifted the 
boat over the submerged part of it; getting back into the boat 
required a long step, but Bessie was equal to it. Finally they 
came out where they longed to come,— a deep, cool arm of the 
pond, where great trees came down to the shore. Here all was- 
changed. They shoved the boat to land, shouted to the other 
children, and threw themselves down, panting and exhausted. 

"Oh, I'm that hot!" cried Bessie. 

Hubert dipped up some water in a cup he carried in his- 

pocket, 

"It is not very cool, but it is better than nothing," he said. 

The picnic place was just round the corner in the same woods. 
For a wonder, Lucy had arrived before the boating party. 

The two boys brought the boat round to the spot where the 



A rOND LILY PICNIC. 



167 



rest were assembled, and after a brief rest, Tom pushed across 
to the part of the pond where the lilies were, taking the two 
girls to pull them up. 

They found them not very plenty as yet, but with promise of 
a large crop later on. Alice showed Bessie how to put her hand 
deep down and pull on the stem steadily in a perpendicular di- 
rection, so as not to break it off short. For Bessie had never 
gathered pond lilies before. 

As they were eating their good lunch under the trees, the 
professor told them that the true way to gather lilies is to come 
before sunrise and to see them as the first light touches and 
opens the buds. They resolved to do this, and with his permis- 
sion, they left the smaller boat there for future excursions, per- 
fectly safe in that unfrequented region. Coming home, the twins 
were packed into the wagon, the other four drifting merrily down 
the river in the other boat. 




168 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



WORK IN EARNEST. 



WORK began in earnest on the next Monday, with reserva- 
tions in favor of the coming Fourth. The library was con- 
verted into a real schoolroom. Two desks, joined together, hacked 
and ink-stained with good service of years, were brought out from 
retirement for Ernest and Augustine Stuyvesant. Hubert still kept 
his table in one corner, by a window overlooking the Connecticut, 
while Tom was allowed one end of Mr. Bruce's own writing-table, 
in the middle of the room. But Tom was only an honorary mem- 
ber of the class. He had been working hard all winter, and was 
at liberty to please himself now in the matter of study. Never- 
theless, as the theory of the Horners was in favor of doing some- 
thing useful in the course of every day, Tom was reading German 
by himself with a dictionary, and was generally to be found at 
his end of the study-table while the others were at work. 

Professor Bruce presided, "grinding" the little boys at Latin, 
reading, writing, arithmetic, etc., and suppressing their occasional 
tendency to kick each other's shins. Maps and slates pervaded the 
library. Bessie did not mix herself with this studious retreat, but 
established lierself and books in a corner of her own room, near 
a window with a deep low window-seat, commanding the same wide 
view of the river and distance that Hubert's did below. She had 
free access to the books in Professor Bruce's library, and had pre- 
pared for herself a course of American History; besides which 
Bessie was always getting u{) a new language. At present, it was 
Italian, with which she was less familiar than the other modern ones. 




PROFESSOR BRUCE. 



WORK IN EARNEST. 



171 



Meanwhile, Mrs. Horner accompanied Mrs. Bruce daily around the 
garden, advised or agreed about the housekeeping, helped Lavinia 
Mary make the beds, cut and disposed of flowers from the gar- 
den, and gave that light 
final touch to the dust- 
ing and arrangement of 
the parlors which makes 
the difference in charm 
between a room so cared 
for and the one me- 
chanically set to rights. 

As Bessie sat day 
after day at her books, 
and heard her mother's 
gentle voice conferring 
with Lavinia Mary, it 
often happened that she 
sighed a little sigh, and 
said to herself, " Poor 
mamma, it is awfully 
dull for her here ! " 

"Take these towels, Lavinia," she heard her mother saying one 
Monday morning, adding cheerfully, "you will have a nice day to 
wash." 

"Yes'm. The great things are all out now on the lines. I told 
Belinda I did not know but the wind might be a little too high, 
but it has gone down considerable since sunrise." 

"It is much nicer to have the things all washed every week,** 
remarked Mrs, Horner, as she smoothed down her side of the bed, 
and paused for a simultaneous turnover, with her fellow bed-maker, 
of the edge of the clean white sheet. 

"I expect so," said Lavinia Mary, without in the least knowing 
what was meant. 




Hubert's corner. 



172 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

" In Germany, you know, they only wash once in six months," 
-continued Mrs. Horner. 

"Land's sakes ! " cried Lavinia Mary. "Do the things keep clean 
so long in them climates.?" 

" Oh, dear, no ! but they have quantities and quantities of sheets, 
pillow-cases, and all wash-things. They change as often as we do, 
throwing all the soiled linen into a dark closet; and when the 
time for the grand wash comes, these are taken out, sorted and 
■counted, and then they wash and wash till all is clean again." 

" Heathen customs," remarked Lavinia Mary as she left the room 
and went back to her weekly tub. 

It was that same morning that as Bessie came out of the li- 
brary, which she had entered for a moment to look at a book of 
reference, leaving the students busily and quietly employed, she 
■came upon Alice Martin, who was not usually to be seen at the 
house so early. She brought a tastefully grouped bunch of but- 
tercups and dandelions which she shyly presented to Bessie, and 
then said, "Is Tom in the library.!*" 

"Tom.?" demanded Bessie without another word, but in a man- 
ner which implied, "What in the world can be your business with 

Tt " 
om . 

"I, — that is, he, — I mean, we are going to begin German to- 
gether," explained Alice, embarrassed at Bessie's sternness. 

Luckily for her, Tom, hearing the voices, came to the door, and 
assuming a severe manner to cover his own slight shecpishness, 
he said, "Oh, you have come, Alice! you are late. I supposed 
you had changed your mind. The grammar is all ready for you. 
Come in ! " 

" So you have turned pedagogue, Tom ! It must be in the air ! " 
cried Bessie. The door was quickly shut, almost in her face, and 
she went up-stairs, laughing. 

" Tom and Alice ! " she said to herself, " that is a new combi- 
nation. I must write to aunt Dut about it. That Tom should 



WORK IN EARNEST. I73 

be teaching German ! It is a capital thing to fill up his time." 

As it happened, the mail that day brought other combinations. 

Mary Horner, the oldest of the family, had been married about 
a year, during which time she had been travelling or resting in 
the south of Europe, with her husband, Mr. Clarence Hervey. Let- 
ters came every week from the young couple, describing the pleas- 
ures of Pau and the Pyrenees, with favorable accounts of Mary's 
health, which had never been so robust as that of the rest of the 
family. The budget which now arrived was full of but one theme 
and entreaty, that the mamma should come out and join her daugh- 
ter, and her very great favorite, the new son-in-law. The Her- 
veys had heard the scheme of a Vermont summer without greatly 
approving of it, for their mother at least. 

"For the young ones," wrote Mr. Hervey, "it is all very well;, 
but, dear Mrs. Horner, you are buried alive in the wilds of your 
native land. You have not even your own closets to keep in order, 
any more than you did while travelling in Europe. Come and keep 
us in order. We need you more than the rest of your family 
does. Bessie can matronize the young crowd at Utopia, and Mrs. 
Bruce can matronize her. You must come to us. We will spend 
the summer wherever you like best ; but we think you will like 
our little Chateau Henri Quatre. It is just far enough from Pau 
to be quiet, and near enough to be amusing, and the view of the 
mountains is superb." 

Mrs. Horner was a good deal upset by these letters, among 
which was a private one from her husband, which seemed to 
much urge the same thing. His plan, to make everything simple, 
was that Philip should cross with his mother, in that same Bor- 
deaux steamer they were so fond of. 

Philip, the second Horner, and eldest son, had finished his first 
year at Harvard. Class day was just over, and he was lingering 
in the neighborhood of Cambridge with a college friend. No sooner 
did he hear the plan than he rejoiced greatly. Meeting, oddly 



174 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



enough, Miss Lejeune at the Country Club, one day, he had a 
chance of briefly talking the matter over with her. The result of 
this was a sheaf of letters rom these two, which hardly left Mrs. 








THE FRENCH CHATEAU. 



Horner an opportunity to protest. "But, 
my dear," she said to Bessie, " how can I 
cross that dreadfu". Atlantic again, and with- 
out your father? and then, he is so forlorn 
by himself in New York." She fell to cry- 
ing, but Bessie held firm. 

"Papa will do well enough, mamma. I 
think he is really younger for having this 
business on his shoulders. He can come 
here, or I can go to him, by and by. He 
x^ can go to Newport while aunt Augusta is 

there. What trunk shall you take, mammr'" 

" I thought the black one, Bessie, would be enough with the 
Jittle state-room valise." 



WORK IN EARNEST. 175 

Bessie smiled to herself. The fact that her mother had already 
suffered her mind to dwell on the matter of baggage showed that 
she was not invincibly opposed to the scheme. 

"The fact is," said Tom, talking it over with Hubert, "that 
our family go to Europe as easily as turtles slip off a log. Just 
you notice that one." 

He neatly aimed a stone at a happy turtle who was sunning 
himself a rod or two off. The boys were strolling along :he river- 
side, just below the house. The stone struck the log; the turtle 
vanished. 

Without more ado the plan was settled. Philip went tc New 
York ; Tom took his mother there. They met Mr. Horner and 
passed a couple of days at the Fifth Avenue Hote! together be- 
fore the two travellers sailed. 

Bessie felt a little gloomy as she saw her mother drive from 
the door, with trunks and shawl-straps, and the little state-room 
valise which she had herself so many times packed and unpacked. 
She had misgivings about her mother, alone and sick in her state- 
room, but the very next one had been secured for Philip, who 
was never sick himself, and who was as good a nurse as one of 
the girls. But Bessie wished she were to be wath them; as she 
turned from the door, the sunlight seemed dark within the house. 
She felt that her ov/n fate was rather drear)', "poked off with a 
lot of boys up in the countr)', while the rest of the family were 
enjoying themselves." In fact, left to herself,— for the house was 
^nipty, — Bessie retired to her room,— now all hers since her mother 
had deserted it,— and indulged herself in the rare luxury of one of 
what in her childhood had been called "Bessie's tantrums," an 
access of crying, accompanied by the darkest view of her situation 

in life. 

It lasted perhaps ten minutes, during which her nature worked 
off the excitement of the last week Then she became reasonable, 
and thought of a great many things which made her position not 



176 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



only desirable, but delightful. Washing her face to remove the 
tears, she set herself to the active hard work of changing all the 
furniture in the room from one place to another, and putting finally 
away the remains of her mother's packing. 

By the time the early dinner hour had arrived, she was not only 
cheerful, but in ridiculously good spirits, and Tom being absent, she 
carried off the blank caused by the two vacant places in a manner 
which surprised Mr. Bruce, and every one but Hubert, who had seen 
her just like this before, in similar circumstances. 




DANDELIONS AND BUTTERCUPS. 



TWO HEROES. 177 



CHAPTER XX. 



TWO HEROES. 



IT is evident that the stirring events of the early half of the 
eighteenth century were raising a crop of heroes ready 10 
stand forth fully equipped in the service of freedom when the time 
came to resist the oppression of the mother-country. The boys 
who were born at that period grew up familiar with the smell of 
powder and smoke, and accustomed to the use of arms. To resist, 
to defend, were a part of their natural lives, and to do and dare 
great things. Thus the names of young men who took brave parts 
in the contests on the Lakes, reappear again as patriots in the 
cause of liberty. 

The French War was a grand field for the military training of 
men, officers and soldiers for the scenes to be enacted a few years 
later. The young men of the country who displayed military genius 
in that war were all the time rising from the ranks of the common 
soldier to positions of command and responsibility. Israel Putnam 
was among the young men who distinguished himself at Fort Ed- 
ward, which he once saved by the example of his own immense 
exertions from being utterly destroyed by fire. 

In the winter of 1756 the barracks took fire. The magazine con- 
taining three hundred barrels of gunpowder was only twelve feet 
distant. Putnam took his station on the roof of the barracks, and 
poured on water, handed him by a line of soldiers, until the fabric 
began to totter. He succeeded in subduing the flames only when 
the outside planks of the magazine had been consumed, so that 
but a thin partition protected the powder. 



178 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



This Putnam is the hero of the well-known adventure with the 
wolf, which happened in Pomfret, Con., when he was a young farmer 
there, in 1743. Every boy knows how he descended into the wolfs 
den, a rope round his body, and a blazing torch in his hand, and 

descried at the farthest end of the 
cave the glaring eyeballs of his 
terrified foe. With a dexterous 
shot he killed the wolf just as she 
was preparing to spring ; and the 
people above, with no small exul- 
tation, dragged them out together. 
Putnam's life was full of similar 
liold deeds and hair-breadth escapes. 
In the French War he was often 
brought into the closest quarters, 
where escape seemed impossible, 
but by his Ciuick perceptions and 
amazing energy could wrest a vic- 
tory from what seemed defeat. 
The Indians thought Putnam bore a charmed life, and no wonder, 
for he was always coming out alive and unharmed from the most 
dangerous encounters. P^rom the day that he entered the den at Pom- 
fret till he rode down the steep stone steps at Greenwich, Con., 
to escape his pursuers, — when he was sixty years old and weighed 
two hundred pounds, — he was going through a series of wonderful 
adventures and escapes. He gained many a wound and scar, but 
preserved through all his life, and died at home in a good old 
age. 

Another young hero, ripening for the Revolution, was Ethan Allen, 
also famous at Ticonderoga. The school in which his bravery was 
developed was the difficulty which arose in Vermont about the pos- 
sessions of his fands. 

No permanent settlement was effected in Vermont, on the west 




ISRAEL PUTNAM. 



TWO HEROES. 



181 



side of the Green Mountains, till after the conquest of Canada by 
the English. In their expeditions against the French, English col- 
onists had made themselves acquainted with the fertility and value 
of the lands lying between the Connecticut River and Lake Cham- 
plain, and the conquest of 
Canada having now removed 
the danger of settling there, 
swarms of adventurers began 
to arrive. Erom the year 
1760, the population of Ver- 
mont began to increase with 
some rapidity. During the 
war a road had been opened 
from Charleston, N. H., to 
Crown Point, which helped 
to open the land of Vermont 
to the attention of settlers. 

Governor Wentworth, of 
New Hampshire, laid out 
townships on both sides of 
the Connecticut River, and 

by granting lands, with fees and emoluments, and by reserving 
five hundred acres in each township for himself, was accumulating 
a fortune. The government of New York, on the other side of 
these lands, determined to check this, in order to possess them- 
selves of the advantage. This was the beginning of great difficul- 
ties, as the original grants made in the time of Charles the Sec- 
•ond were absurd and conflicting. 

Among the settlers in this disputed territory was the family of 
Ethan Allen, who became first conspicuous in resisting the decrees 
of New York law. Allen was made colonel of an armed force 
organized to protect the New Hampshire granters and remove the 
New York settlers. 




182 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

At the head of his Green Mountain boys, he resisted all the 
proceedings of the New York authorities. Whenever a sheriff ap- 
peared upon the grants for the purpose of arresting rioters or 
ejecting settlers, he was sure to be met by a party larger than 
his own, ready and able to frustrate his object. Repeated aggres- 
sions took place, until the indignation of the settlers throughout 
the New Hampshire grants was raised to the highest pitch ; open 
hostilities were prevented only by the commencement of the American 
War, at Lexington (nineteenth of April, 1775), an event which pro- 
duced a shock felt throughout the colonies. Local and provincial 
contests were at once swallowed up by the importance of the 
struggle thus began between Great Britian and her colonies. 

Here was another hero ready for the emergency. As soon as 
war with the mother-country had become inevitable, the occupation, 
of Ticonderoga Was determined on, and the task confided to Allen, 
who repaired thither at once, at the head of his well-tried Green 
Mountain boys. 

Ethan Allen was born in Connecticut, in 1737. It was in 1766- 
that he moved to Vermont, and became outlawed by New York 
for his bold and defiant action. In 1775 he took Fort Ticonderoga. 
Later in the year, attacking Montreal with one hundred and ten 
men, he was captured, with his whole command. He was carried' 
to England and kept a prisoner in Pendennis Castle for a short 
time, but was exchanged in 1778. His life was always eventful, 
sharing the later troubles of his adopted State. He died at Bur- 
lington in 1789. 

At Montpelicr, the capital of the State, is a fine statue, in Ver- 
mont marble, of Vermont's hero, made by Larkin Mead. The State 
House is a handsome building of light-colored granite, with a portico 
supported by Doric columns, and under it the statue stands with a 
fine imposing effect. 

"I might have .stopped at Montpelier," said Hubert, "when I 
went to Burlington to meet you, but I never thought of such a 




PUTNAM RIDING DOWN THE STEPS. 



TWO HEEOES. 



ISo 



thing. If they had shown me Ethan Allen, I should not have known 
whom they meant." 

"I'll tell you what, Hubert," said Bessie, "you and I will 
quietly go there some day, and have an ' excursion of historic in- 




ISRAEL PUTNAM S BIRTHI'LACK. 



terest.' There are friends of the family who will be pleasant to 
us, without any doubt." 

Hubert and Bessie did accomplish this little trip later on in the 
summer, and it may as well be here described. 

Montpelier is a pretty town, with broad streets well laid out, and 
surrounded by hills highly cultivated. There are several handsome 
churches, each denomination vying with the rest, it would seem, 
to erect the finest. 

The old State House was burned in 1857, and the new one 
has since taken its place. It stands on a slight elevation approached 



186 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



from a green common, by granite steps in terraces. Under the 
portico are kept two cannon taken from the Hessians at the bat- 
tle of Bennington (1777), after a desperate struggle. The British 
got them back at the surrender of Detroit, in the War of 181 2, 
but they were retaken by the Americans during the Canada Cam- 
paign. They were 
sent to Washington, 
and Congress pre- 
sented them to the 
State of Vermont. 

" Probably Molly 
Stark wore her bon- 
net when she was 
congratulating the 
General for taking 
these cannons," re- 
marked Hubert. 

" What ? " asked 
Bessie. 

"Oh, I forgot! it 
was Alice," said Hu- 
bert, and then told 
her about the gar- 
ret and the bonnets, 
which had never been 
again thought of, in 
the open air summer 
life they were lead- 




)M. Ill MiUl.U \l,ARo AGO. 



mg. 



the 



" That was 
first I knew about the battle of Bennington," said Hubert. 

Carefully kept behind glass, in the State House at Montpelier, 
are preserved all the battle flags and pennons of the Vermont 



TWO HEROES. 187 

regiments in the War of Secession. They are tattered and weather- 
stained, with the names of the battles in which they were borne 
inscribed upon them in gold letters. 

The State House contains portraits of different Governors of 
Vermont. 

Bessie and Hubert dined and spent the night at a large hotel 
.called the Pavilion, the side windows of which overlook the 
grounds of the State House. 

Some old friend of the family very kindly showed them the lions, 
and they returned to Utopia highly pleased with their visit to the 
Metropolis. 

" I feel exactly," said Bessie, " as if I had been to Paris, or Lon- 
don. There is so much going on in the streets, which have real 
sidewalks, shops with lace and ribbons, and all like a large town. 
It is long since I have seen any sort of a street!" 

This was after Bessie had been at Utopia more than a month, 
where there was but one store, and that not on the scale of the 
Bon Marche, or Arnold and Constable's. One counter occupied 
the side of a large room, on the end of which was erected the 
set of pigeon-holes which proclaimed the post-office. Shelves be- 
hind the counter contained red and 5''ellow flannel, and a few 
pieces of dark calico, and unbleached cotton cloth. Salt fish con- 
tended for the prevailing odor with molasses and tobacco, for 
the wall opposite the counter was left to accommodate a row of 
chairs, tipped up against it, where the worthies of the neighbor- 
hood installed themselves in their leisure moments, and might be 
found any day awaiting the arrival of the mail, chewing tobacco, 
reading the newspaper, and talking a little, but not much. Few 
and short were the sentences which fell habitually from their lips ; 
the pleasure of these occasions was apparently a kind of dumb 
companionship. 

"The store is such as it was when I used to go there, a little 
mite of a thing, in my cape bonnet, forty years ago," said 



188 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



Mrs. Bruce. " It has fallen off, however, since the war, like 
•everything else in Utopia." 

" I am inclined to think," said the professor, " that it has looked 
.pretty much the same these hundred years." 




READINC TIIK NEWS. 



MOVING TABLEAUX. 189> 



CHAPTER XXI. 



MOVING TABLEAUX. 



A WEEK now remained before the Fourth of July, and great 
preparations began in honor of the occasion. These prepa- 
rations were a secret from the grown people, and what was more, 
they were a secret from Bessie. It made her feel very old to 
find herself thus put on the side of dignity, — among the spectators 
instead of being a prominent performer in whatever was going 
forward. 

"We had just as lief have you, Bessie," explained Hubert, "in 
fact, we want to consult you all the time ; but, you see, if you 
are with us there will not be anybody to look on, except the 
professor and Mrs. Bruce, and they may not laugh in the right 
place ! '' 

They drew the line at Bessie, for Tom was required as chief 
counsellor ; but the scheme was Hubert's and Alice's. The twins 
worked with a will. 

As soon as lessons were over, all the party disappeared in the 
direction of the large barn over at the Martin's. They came back 
breathless, heated and late, and returned after a hasty meal to 
their labors. In the evening the conspirators all sat grouped to- 
gether about Tom, on the doorstep, and discussed their plans. 
Bursts of laughter came from the boys, followed by " Sh ! sh ! " 
from Tom. "You must not let them hear beforehand." 

In these days, Bessie felt melancholy. She leaned on the bar 
of the side-piazza and looked at the moon over the Connecticut 
valley. She seemed to herself suddenly to be grown up, without 



190 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 



having noticed it coming on; she thought of her mother and 

Philip, of their steamer plunging along through the waves, 

and of Mary and Clarence Hervey awaiting them at Bordeaux ; 

then with a sigh, she would turn away to the library, and rouse 

the professor to a vigorous 
discussion of some literary or 
historic point. 

Meantime, Alice as head-man- 
ager of that part of the busi- 
ness, sought the barn every day, 
and with a broom in her 
hand, and her head tied up 
in a blue spotted handkerchief, 
directed the work of renova- 
tion. The rubbish which the 
children had no authority to 
destroy, was gathered together 
in one corner, and concealed 
behind some small young spruce- 
trees which the boys cut down 
and dragged in from the woods; 
fortunately there were plenty 
to be had not very far off. 
" It will be very useful," said Tom, " to resemble a forest," as 

the business began of disposing of the trees after he had decreed 

that enough had been brought. 

He was sitting on top of a barrel giving out his orders, 
"Don't throw them down like that, Ernest!" he called out. 

"Cannot you make it look like a primex-al forest.'" 

Hubert scrambled up to the top of the pWc of barrels and 

boxes, and succeeded in sticking the stem of a little tree into a 

knot-hole in one of them. 

"Good," said Tom, "now work up to that;" and taking com- 




MOVING TABLEAUX. 191 

passion on the little boys who were tugging at the pile of trees, 
he fell to himself with such vigor that a very respectable forest 
soon concealed the rubbish. 

Festoons of ground pine were pulled up in the woods to deco- 
rate the long sides of the great chamber. The children were 
anxious about the darkness of the place, as there were but two 
windows, one at each end, and these were small; but when Alice, 
with her dusting-brush and much soap and water, had removed 
the cobwebs and scrubbed the panes, the quantity of light was 
greatly increased. 

As the plan progressed and improved in importance, it was de- 
cided to invite all the people of Utopia with whom the Bruces 
were on visiting terms ; this included about everybody, and the 
children were surprised to find that they had sent out seventeen 
invitations. These were given by word of mouth, through Alice, 
and they were all accepted. It now became necessary to borrow 
settees from the vestry of the meeting-house; their first plan had 
been to provide only old boxes and barrel-tops for the audience. 

The day came, and two o'clock p. m. came, the hour fixed for the 
entertainment. This was chosen because all Utopia dined at noon, 
or half-past twelve at latest. No tickets were sold or issued, as 
the occasion was wholly complimentary, so there was no need of 
any ticket. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce came early, and received the guests. The 
steep flight of narrow stairs was a little awkward, but the door 
at the top was fastened open. Punctual to the hour, they began 
to arriv^e, in best bonnets and Sunday coats. 

" Well, I declare ! " was tke general sentiment from one and all 
as they entered the room. The farthest end, which contained the 
primeval forest in one corner, was left clear for the performances. ' 
A sort of trophy had been arranged high up over the windows, 
of American flags, and a stuffed eagle, which, rather the worse for 
wear, had long ornamented the top of a bookcase in the professor's 



192 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HUME. 



library. Two screens, which were in reality clothes-horses of the 
large old-fashioned type, stood on either side, to make retiring places 
for the performers. These were hung with patch-quilts, one of which 

very appropriately contained for its 
centre square a portrait of George 
Washington printed on calico, and the 
other that of Martha his wife. They 
had been borrowed by Alice from an 
old lady of the town, for Alice knew 
well the ins and outs of Utopia, and 
every piece of furniture possessed by 
every inhabitant. 

The sides of the 
chamber were fes- 
tooned with green,, 
and bunches of lau- 
rel, which still lin- 
gered in blossom, 
were stuck up at 
intervals. The set- 
tees occupied the 
nearer end of the 
room, rocking-chairs 
being placed for 
guests of advanced' 
age and distinction. 
Bessie modestly 
seated herself at the 
back of the hall, to 
leave the best places 
for the guests. Just 
as all seemed ready 
to begin, Tom, looking hot and flurried, came to her and said: 




I'ULUNG Ul' GROUND-l'INK. 



MOVING TABLEAUX. 195 

" Look here, Bessie, I wish you would come behind the scenes 
and help. We don't know how to put on the things very well." 

It was a moment of triumph for Bessie, revealing that they could 
not get on without her, after all. Wasting no time in exultation, 
she quietly followed him. Behind each screen was a pile of cos- 
tumes, or rather the materials for them. A couple of cocked hats, 
two swords, with belts, a pair of top-boots, lay on the floor on 
■one side of the stage. Crossing to the other without any regard 
to the audience, although there was no curtain, Bessie found the 
twins, trembling, in the costumes of wild Indians ; that is, two very 
good feather dusters had been sacrificed for their head-dresses, 
bright scarfs were bound about their waists, and their feet were 
bound in something like leggings. Alice was engaged at that late 
moment in putting a spot of the water-color called "Indian Red," 
upon each of their four cheeks. 

"It does not stick very well," said Alice, "but that's no matter. 
Do not they look splendid, Bessie.-' I am thankful you have 
come ! " 

" They are to be Indians throughout," explained Tom, " and come 
on for either side, just as it happens." 

The programme consisted of a number of moving tableaux, with- 
out speaking, representing stirring scenes in the French and Indian 
wars. The first series represented the surrender of Fort William 
Henry. Tom retired and put on the cocked hat, sword and cloak, 
to appear as Colonel Munro ; when he was ready, Hubert advanced, 
in a uniform shown to be French by its tri-colored sash, as Gen- 
eral Montcalm. The interview between these two worthies was a 
little embarrassed, consisting chiefly of stiff bows up and down on 
both sides. Alice entered as the daughter of Colonel Munro and 
wept upon the shoulder of her father. 

This was the first scene ; the second was more exciting when 
the departure from the fortress began, Hubert having changed rapidly 
to Duncan, an officer on the American side. The Indians rushed 



196 A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 

in with tomahawks. They had been instructed to keep moving; 
round the screen from the stage and coming out again as more 
Indians. This must have confused the audience, but confusion was 
a part of the occasion. There was much stamping, and flashing of 




STUAUT'S PORTIJAIT of AVASIIIXOTON. 

swords and tomahawks. It ended in a tableau of everybody lying 
wounded on the ground except the Indians, one of whom supported 
the swooning form of Alice, while the other vindictively waved a 
murderous weapon, — a rusty hatchet. Then the stage was cleared. 
The Utopians sat pleased, but silent, and such silence is always 
depressing to dramatic performers. But Bessie came forward, and 
resuming her scat among the audience, began to clap her hands 



MOVIXG TABLEAUX. 197 

and applaud vigorously. Professor Bruce followed her example. The 
spirits of the company revived, and they went on. It would be 
difficult to describe all the scenes which followed ; indeed it is to 
be feared the audience failed to keep the run of them. There was 
a great deal of bravery, courage and bloodshed. Major Putnam 
descended from the top of the forest, riding a savage saw-horse, 
with an old broom for a head. This was a really daring feat, in 
which Tom might have broken his neck or a leg. for in spite of 
due previous precautions, the whole forest, and indeed the heap of 
boxes of which it was made, came down with him. 

Scene after scene followed each other in rapid succession. The 
Americans dared, the English resisted, the Indians scalped, the 
maiden swooned continuously. The air of the old barn-chamber 
became thick with dust, and the floor shook with the violence of 
the combatants. 

" I guess that's enough, boys," said Tom finally, and they all 
dropped their arms and advanced in a row towards imaginary foot- 
lights. 

" Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor to tell you that the 
performance is concluded," said Tom. The audience retired, assert- 
ing: that it was a beautiful show. 



198 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE REVOLUTION BEGUN. 



I TELL you, Tom, those boys are just as stupid and ignorant 
as can be," said Hubert. 

" You wanted them up here," retorted Tom. 

"Oh," said Hubert, "they do very well for Indians, but, you 
know, I believe they had not the faintest idea what we were cel- 
ebrating yesterday. I heard one of them asking Mrs. Bruce if 
Independence Day came more than once a year!" 

Tom threw himself back in the bushes and laughed joyfully. 

" I'm glad it does not," said he, " for my back is stiff with that 
ride of Major Putnam's." 

The two older boys had strolled off for a walk by themselves 
the afternoon following the great performance in honor of the 
national holiday. They had reached a high opening in the woods 
overlooking the broad valley of the Connecticut, and Tom was re- 
posing hidden in a nest of moss and bushes, while Hubert lay flat 
on the ground near him. 

" They read, when they are reading aloud, like parrots," con- 
tinued Hubert, " without taking the sense of the sentences they 
repeat. They have been reading in " Oilman's American People " 
about the Revolution ever since they came." 

"I do not call them really dull boys," said Tom; "simply, they 
are not used to books. I suppose Mrs. Stuyvesant never reads 
any thing but the Duchess's novels. In fact, I think one of 
the twins is very intelligent, only I am never quite sure 
which one it is. I should have been that kind of a boy, only 



THE REVOLUTION BEGUN. 



199 



that Bessie and the rest are continually driving in information." 

The StLiyvesant boys, it was true, diligently read without receiv- 
ing ideas from their books. Professor Bruce, perceiving this, — not 
for the first time in his long experience of teaching all sorts of 
boys, — saw that it was 
necessary to rouse their 
minds by talking with 
them much on the 
subjects they were 
busy on. In this way 
he hoped to awaken 
enough curiosity to 
give them power to 
fasten some meaning 
upon printed words. 

The history of our 
country down to the 
Revolution is the his- 
tory of thirteen colo- 
nies. Besides the Mas- 
sachusetts colony, and 
New Hampshire, 
which included a part 
of Vermont until some 
years later, there were 
eleven others making 
the list : 

New Hamoshire, 
Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 

These were not all established at the same time, nor all by Eng- 
lishmen, but however differently founded or governed, they were all 




TALKiNc; IT ov?:k 



200 A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOMK. 

alike in some things. They all made their own laws, to a certain ex- 
lent, while they all had become, at last, subject to Great Britain ; and 
they all thought themselves ill-treated by the British Government. 
This common discontent made them finally separate themselves from 
England, and unite with one another, but it was a long time be- 
fore this union was complete. 

The colonies would have been satisfied to go on as colonies if 
Great Britain had either not taxed them, or had let them send 
representatives to Parliament in return for being taxed. The wisest 
English statesmen would have consented to either of these meas- 
ures ; but King George the Third and his advisers would not 
agree to either ; and so they not only lost the power of taxing 
the American colonies, but in the end lost the colonies themselves. 

The excitement about the "Stamp Act" was the real beginning 
of the war. This famous act only required that all deeds, and 
such legal documents, should be written or printed on paper with 
a stamp on it, only to be bought of tax-collectors, the money re- 
ceived for it going to the Government. This is a common way 
of raising money for government purposes in small sums, but the 
colonists were in the mood to object to any tax. In one colony 
after another opposition was made to such an extent that nobody 
dared to act as stamp officer, and the law was never enforced. 

The Stamp Act was repealed just a year after its passage. 
There was great rejoicing throughout the colonies. In Boston, bells 
were rung, flags displayed, and houses illuminated. British troops 
were stationed in Boston and New York to keep people quiet, 
but the effect was just the other way. The boys used to insult 
the soldiers, and they in return taunted the people. Such events 
as the Boston Massacre, the throwing the tea into the harbor to 
prevent any tax being paid upon it, and similar instances of re- 
sistance, only made King George and his ministers increase the 
strictness of the laws, hoping to frighten the colonies. The sever- 
est of these measures was the Boston Port l^ill. closing the y:)ort 



THE REVOLUTION BEGUN. 



201 



of Boston, cutting off all water communication between it and 
neighboring towns, except by the way of Marblehead, where every- 
thing must be entered at the custom house, and brought to Boston 
in the care of an officer. 

The Boston Port Bill helped to make the scattered colonies a 
nation, for it united them in a common cause of resistance. 

There were now 
two million Ameri- .aiBiilifeife.".,;x 

cans, perhaps three 
millions, of whom a 
fifth were fighting 
men trained in In- 
dian warfare. In 
Braddock's expedi- 
tion, some of them 
had seen the red 
coats run for their 
lives before the 
French and Indians, 
while the Virginia 
riflemen stood their 
ground. Such men 
as General Putnam, 
who had been tied 
to a tree by Indians, 
and had seen the fire 
blaze up around him, without flinching, was not likely to flinch before 
English muskets. Such was the way the patriots regarded the 
chances of success, although there were many colonists who thought 
it not only wrong, but dangerous, to resist the British Govern- 
ment. 

In the midst of this excitement, General Gage, the royal Gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts, called the legislature together, and then, 




OKNERAT- GAGia;. 



202 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



changing his mind, dissolved it before it met, by a proclamationi 

dated September 28, 1774. 
Upon this all the mem- 
bers elected to the leg- 
islature came together b)- 
agreement, without ask- 
ing his leave, and formed 
themselves into a Provin- 
cial Congress. They at 
once began to get the 
militia into good order. 
A quarter of the militia- 
men were called " minute- 
men," and were bound to 
assemble at the very 
shortest notice. Then the 
Provincial Congress set 
about the collecting of 
arms and ammunition, and 
had them stored at Con- 
cord and Worcester. 
Meanwhile British troops 
kept arriving in Boston, 
and General Gage kept 
sending out spies to find 
out where these military 
stores were, and the pa- 
triots had their own spies 
to watch his movements 
in case he should send out 
to capture these stores. 
It was one of these watchers on the Charlestown side of Charles 

River, wlio learned one night, by seeing the signal of a lantera 




.MrNUTE-MAN. 



THE REVOLUTION BEGUN". 203 

gleaming in the steeple of the North Church in Boston, across the 
water, that a large force of Eritish troops was preparing to leave 
Boston. Instantly all was in motion, and messengers went riding 
in all directions to spread the alarm that the stores were in danger. 
It was then that Paul Revere mounted his horse and galloped out 
through Medford to a house where the patriotic leaders, John Han- 
cock and Samuel Adams, were, awaking the principal farmers as 
he passed from house to house. 

So as the eight hundred British soldiers, having crossed the 
water in boats, marched silently along the marshes, they knew by 
the sudden ringing of all the bells in the towns around, that their 
plan had been found out. Paul Revere, and the other scouts, had 
done their work well. The commanding ofificer of the British then 
sent back for more troops, and Major Pitcairn went forward with 
two or three hundred infantry, having orders to secure the two 
bridges at Concord. But when on his way Pitcairn passed through 
Lexington, at four in the morning, April 19, 1775, he found sixty 
or seventy militia collected on the Green to resist him. The 
British soldiers fired upon them. The Americans fired in return, 
but did little damage. Eight of the Americans were killed and 
ten wounded, while the British marched on towards Concord. 

Although the British troops succeeded in destroying all the mili- 
tary stores they could find in Concord, they did not return to 
Boston so easily as they came. It was sixteen miles, and the whole 
country round was now roused by the guns and bells. Men came 
hurrying from all directions ; it seemed to the British as if they 
dropped from the clouds, and with every mile the number of their 
opponents increased. Before they reached Lexington they fairly ran, 
and they would have had to surrender, but for the protection of 
Lord Percy, who had marched out to meet them with re-enforce- 
ments. 

The British now retreated more slowly, but they were glad, at 
sunset, to find themselves under cover of the guns of their men- 



204 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



of-vvar, having suffered, in killed, wounded and missing, nearly three 
times as much as their opponents. 

This day was the real beginning of the Revolution. It was 




THE NOKTli UKIDGE A i' CONCUKD. 



soon after, on the tenth of May, 1775. that Ethan Allen captured 
Fort Ticonderoga. An army of fifteen thousand men was collected. 
Among the list of generals were to be found the names of Put- 
nam and Stark, whose bravery was well known already. 

The Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, came next; the 
Americans were then obliged to retreat, but the inexperienced sol- 
diers showed that they could resist regular fire, and although they 
claimed no victory, the colonists felt greatly encouraged. The 
ranks of the Continental Army were filled up, and the troops were 
full of enthusiasm. 

The army was now adopted as a national army, and George Wash- 
ington was chosen General-in-chief, for there was no man in Amer- 
ica who could claim to equal him in military reputation. 

Under the great elm in Cambridge, still known as the Washing- 
ton Elm, he took command of the Continental Army. 



THE REVOLUTION BEGUN. 



205 



When the British government heard of the Battle of Bunker Hill, 
it was resolved to subdue the American colonies, no matter at what 
cost. Some fifty thousand men were employed against not more 
than twelve thousand. But the Americans felt they had gone too 
far to retreat, and resolved to persevere. 




THE OLD ELM AT CAMBRIDGE. 



206 A FAMILY FLIGHT AEOUXD HOME. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

THE Massachusetts Legislature had issued a circular inviting 
all the colonies to send delegates to a Congress at New York. 
This Congress met, drew up a declaration of rights, a memo- 
rial to Parliament, and a petition to the King, in which they claimed 
the right of being taxed only by their own representatives. The 
colonial assemblies approved the proceedings of the Congress, and 
thus for the first time in their history, a bond of union was formed 
among the American colonies. 

This Continental Congress was composed of the best thinkers, 
the most patriotic and the bravest men of the colonies, and it was 
upon these that the responsibility of the situation rested, more 
than on the farmers who fought at Lexington and Bunker Hill. 
Even after one or two fights, the Americans might have drawn 
back, and made peace again ; but after Congress had declared that 
" these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
pendent States," they were obliged to support the assertion, and 
take the consequences. The Congress had the difficult work of rais- 
ing soldiers, choosing efficient officers, and worst of all, collecting money 
to pay the expenses of a war. Some of these men, even Wash- 
ington himself, were at first not prepared for an absolute separation 
from the mother-country ; but they became convinced that nothing 
else would do. Doctor Franklin, who was one of the wisest of 
the patriots, was always ciieerful and hopeful, and when the time 
came, the delegates from all the colonics voted to declare independ- 
•ence, except New York, and New York didn't vote against it. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



207 



Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, It was 
discussed in Congress and severely attacked, but it was finally 
adopted without much alteration, on the Fourth of July, 1776, and 
signed some weeks later. There were rejoicings everywhere, and on 
the tenth of July the document was read at the head of each 
brigade of the Continental Army posted at and in the vicinity of 




SMim BBOR 



HOUSE WHERE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS DRAWN UP. 



New York. " It was received everywhere with the utmost demon- 
strations of joy." 

" So, boys," said Mr. Bruce as Ernest finished reading the last 
sentence, stumbling a good deal over the word demonstrations, 
*' now you see why we celebrate the Fourth of July every year." 

"And why," said Tom, looking up from his German, "all good 
little American boys fire crackers all day long." 

" And why," said Bessie who happened to be in the library, 
*' cannons resound, and bells ring, all over the United States, and 
fireworks are sent ofT in the evening." 



208 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



" Like the destruction of the Bastile," said Augustine, with a 
gleam of intelligence. 

Alice stared, and did not cease when Tom and Bessie readily- 
agreed, saying both together, " yes, exactly." 

Ernest and Augustine, little absentees as they were, had never 
seen a popular celebration of any sort in their own country, but 



^m^ty^^'^J^^ 



^a^^. 
















'tr*7^ 



'a/m^<j 



j^^ 



tr^ 



rur 






AUTOGRAPHS OK SIONKRS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

they were perfectly familiar with similar demonstrations in France, 
where the fourteenth of July is recognized much in the same 
manner. 

The Bastile was a prison in Paris, where for centuries state pris- 




MEADOW INTKKVALK. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 211 

©ners were immured, and tortured with great cruelty. It continued 
to be used for much the same purposes down to the fourteenth 
of July, 1789, when the people rose in their fury and utterly 
destroyed it. This is one of the acts of the French Revolution, to 
be balanced against its numerous crimes. The day is celebrated 
in France as we celebrate the Fourth of July, because of its im- 
portance in the annals of liberty. 

" We ought to have read the Declaration on the Fourth," said 
Bessie, " and Tom, you ought to be able to repeat it." 

" When, in the course of human events," began Tom, in an 
oratorical manner, then changing to his usual voice, he continued, 
"that is as far as I know." 

" I have it here, in a dozen books," said the professor, as he 
looked along the shelves. 

Bessie said to him in a low tone, " Do not find it for a few 
minutes, — not till I come back." 

"Here it is," cried Hubert, "in the end of Mr. Oilman's 
history." 

Just then Bessie reappeared, having hastily draped herself in an 
American flag which she had found, still lying in a heap in the 
best parlor, with the rest of the decorations used on the recent 
occasion. Her white handkerchief was tied over her head after the 
manner of a Liberty cap. Thus converted, for the moment, into the 
Goddess of Freedom, she stepped lightly upon a chair, thence to 
the middle of the large study-table, and taking the book from the 
astonished professor, who, a little nervously, moved the inkstand 
away from her feet, she declaimed, in as theatrical manner, the 
famous document upon which rests the liberty of America. 

Tom set the example of applause at the appropriate pauses. 
This was an idea readily received by the twins, who found that 
banging their desk-lids was so effective that they introduced this 
form of approval oftener than was absolutely necessary. 

When it was over, and something like quiet was restored, Tom 



212 A FAMILY FLKfHT AROUND HOME. 

turned to Hubert, and shaking hands with him, said in an exag- 
gerated manner : 

"Sir! — you have behaved like a gentleman. You have suppressed 
your feelings as an Englishman, and applauded those sentiments of 
patriotism and freedom which fill every American breast. And now," 
he continued, " let us go and have a swim, for it is warm, — 
with your leave, sir," he added, turning to the professor. 

"The school is dismissed for the day," said the professor, with 
alacrity, using a formula which had been familiar to him through 
many a long year. 

The days, as is their custom in the beginning of July, had 
become very warm, and the boys took advantage of this for de- 
lightful aquatic excursions, of which there was every variety. 
There was the cold brook on the mountain road, where water fell 
babbling and bubbling over great stones, where they could sit on 
submerged sofas of rock and let the ice-cold stream fall over their 
shoulders. There was the dark pool below the mill at the 
foot of Stevens' Fall, good for diving, where those who were bold 
and skilful enough could get long headers in the wine-gold depths. 

There was the west end of the lily pond where they had the 
picnic ; under the trees the shore sloped down rapidly, so that two 
strokes away the water was many feet deep, — cool, still, delicious 
for floating, or treading water. 

But to-day the boys were going to a place in the meadow inter- 
vale, where the Connecticut made a bend, among tall American 
elms ; the hay had just been cut there, and was now to be brought 
home to Farmer Martin's great barns. The plan was to take their 
bath under the elms, in a spot with a pebbly bottom, and per- 
haps " loaf round " through the afternoon, and come home on top 
of the hay. 

Tom was a fairly good swimmer, and Hubert an excellent one. 
At Gibraltar he had been taught many an aquatic feat by an old 
soldier in garrison there. The twins were helpless, as yet, in 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



213 



deep water. It was for their benefit that the shallow place had 
been chosen for that day's bath. Bullied, scolded, encouraged and 
instructed by the older boys, they were beginning to make some 
progress. Ernest could already float, and Augustine make several 
strokes, if somebody would stand by to' catch him by the chin. 
When Tom and Hubert were amiable, they performed these offices ; 
when the reverse, they went off to their favorite diving pool, when 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE. 



the twins had to give up their bath altogether, or take their bath- 
ing-clothes and accompany the girls. 

For Bessie was an admirable swimmer, and never missed any 
day a dip in the river, if she could help it. Her usual resort was 
under the pines by the lily pond, and she and Ahce either went 
there by boat, walked, or drove. 

"Let us take up some lunch, Alice," she said on this occasion, 
"and not come home until it is cool." 



214 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

"Why do not you?" said Tom, "and perhaps we will come along 
in time to bring you back." 

"All right," said Alice, "then we will walk up, and you can 
come for us in the boat if you like." 

"Very well," replied Tom, "only mind, we do not promise!" 

Then there was a rush for towels, bathing-dresses and luncheon. 

"Land's sakes ! " exclaimed Lavinia Mary. "It is on the line. 
Miss Bessie. So you won't none of you be here to dinner ! Well, 
it's a mercy, for there is nothing but boiled dish ; for Jacob, he 
did not kill, after all, yesterday." 

This strange remark had reference to lamb, which would have 
been roasted to-day, but that it was still gambolling in the fields, 
or more likely sheltering its broad proportions from the sun under 
a stone wall. 

"Land's sakes!" cried Tom, "is it boiled dish! I have a great 
mind to come home to dinner ! " 

"Tom," said Bessie, "you must not say 'land's sakes!' INIother 
dislikes it very much, and if you get the habit, you will never 
give it up, — like Ach dii ! in Germany." 

" Well, give me my towel, Libert}', and do not boss, it becomes 
you ill!" 

Bessie had not yet taken off her Liberty cap, and the Stars and 
Stripes were still wound about her, impeding her progress. So she 
did not pursue her brother, but let him go off, and went to make 
her own preparations. Alice was seen flying home across the fields 
to inform her mother of the programme. The boys scrambled 
down the steep hill to the boat-landing, and were soon pulling 
across the river in the hot sun, in the direction of the meadow- 
intervale. 

"Well," said Lavinia Mary, "I do not say but it's a comfort 
to see the last of them. I guess I'll shut the blinds and give 
one drive to them flies. It is about time to put on the cabbage, 
unless Belinda, she may have seen to it." 



THE DECLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



215 



The professor settled himself to his books, and Mrs. Bruce com- 
ing down from her room, looked in upon him and said : 

"Was not there rather more noise than usual, my dear, about 
the lessons .'' " 

"Yes, dear, it was the Declaration of Independence," said the 
^ood professor. 




..=*=l 



JBKLOW THE MILL. 



216 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE WAR. 



AT first, the American troop.s were defeated. They lost several 
battles, and Washington, with his main army, had to leave 
New York to the British troops, and retreat, much to the encou- 
ragement of the British. 

Washington felt that the courage of his army must be kept up 
by some great success. There was a body of about a thousand 
British troops at Trenton. These soldiers, although they belonged 
to the British army, were Germans, hired and paid for by the 
British Government, to which they were furnished by their respec- 
tive sovereigns, one of whom was the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, and 
therefore they went, in this country, under the name of Hessians. 

On Christmas Day (1776), which is a great holiday with all 
Germans, Washington crossed the Delaware from his camp, and 
took them by surprise. The German commander was killed, and 
all his soldiers were taken prisoners. 

In spite of this and other successes, Washington's army spent 
a gloomy and suffering winter at Valley Forge where they were 
encamped. The soldiers slept without blankets, went without shoes, 
and food was scarce. For there was scarcely any money to furnish 
supplies, and still less to pay the troops. 

Lafayette and other brave men who had come from Europe ta 
fight on the American side, for the sake of the cause of liberty, 
suffered alike with Washington and his army. Meanwhile the 
British were living comfortably in Philadelphia, and their ofificers 
enjoyed every luxury. 







WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FURCIE. 



THE WAR. 210 

Early in 1777, General Burgoyne, with a part of the British 
army, came up Lake Champlain from Canada, took Ticonderoga, and 
sent a detachment to destroy military stores at Bennington. This 
was the time when General Stark carried the day. A still greater 
eve^nt followed. Burgoyne, with his whole army, encamped at Sara- 
toga, and after two battles at Stillwater were hemmed in by Gen- 
eral Gates and his troops, and forced to surrender October 17, 
1777. 

This was a great advantage to the Americans. It made the 
French Government think there was a chance of success for the 
colonies, and Doctor Franklin, who was in Paris, obtained a treaty 
and promises of aid from France. 

Yet the war dragged on slowly for three years more, with 
varying success. Sometimes the Americans won the day, sometimes 
they were beaten. There was fighting at sea as well as on land, 
with the same results. 

The struggle closed with one great victory, in which the French 
troops sent to aid the colonists played an important part. It was 
at Yorktown, Va., where the British General Cornwallis had made 
his headquarters. General Washington was there with American 
troops, and Count Rochambeau with French soldiers, while York 
River was blockaded by French ships. After a siege of ten days, 
Lord Cornwallis, who had planned to retreat across York River, 
one night, was prevented by a storm, and he surrendered to 
Washington. 

This was October 19, 1781. There was great rejoicing every- 
where, and well might the Americans rejoice, for it was acknowl- 
edged by both sides that the surrender of Cornwallis decided the 
result of the war. 

It had lasted nearly seven years, had cost Great Britain a great 
deal of money, and the lives of many brave men, besides which 
the colonies were lost. There was more fighting, here and there, 
after the surrender of Cornwallis, and the British kept the city 



220 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROTTXI) HOME. 



of New York, and also Charleston and Savannah, for nearly two 
years more. At last, on September 3, 1783, a treaty was made 
at Paris, between English and American Commissioners, by which. 




I.ORl) CORWV ' IMS. 



all that the Declaration of Independence had claimed was conceded, 
and the United States of America took its place as a nation. 

There was one ^reat act of treason committed during the war, 
by one of the most distinguished of the American officers, General 
Benedict Arnold. He had taken part from the beginning ; was at 
the side of Ethan Allen at the time he marched into the fort 



THE WAR, 



221 



at Ticonderoga ; and had distinguished himself in other ways. But 
he was carrying on all along a secret correspondence with the 
British commander-in-chief; and letters from him were found con- 
cealed upon the person of Major Andre, a British officer who 
was carrying them to his general. These papers contained full in- 
formation in regard to the defences of West Point, and a plan for 
its surrender. 

Major Andre was detected on the twenty-third of September, 
1780. He was tried by court-martial and hanged as a spy. Much 
sympathy was felt for him, as he was but obeying the orders of 
his superior in transmitting the papers of 
Arnold ; but it was remembered that a 
brave young American officer, Captain Na- 
than Hale, had been hanged as a spy by 
the British, four years before. Arnold him- 
self escaped to the British lines, and joined 
the British army. He fought against his 
own countrymen and was made a briga- 
dier-general by the English. The thought 
of Andre, sacrificed to his disloyal in- 
tentions, must have been ever after a 
dark thread in whatever bright schemes he 
might weave for his ambition. 

In all the course of reading and talk which Professor Bruce en- 
couraged on the subject of the Revolutionary War, Hubert was 
staunch in maintaining the bravery of his countrymen. At this dis- 
tance of time from the conflict, all Americans are not always ready 
to concede this. The account of Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga 
cannot fail to enlist the sympathies of those who read it. 

He was completely surrounded. The main body of the American 
army, under General Gates, was close at hand ; every part of his 
camp was exposed to fire. There was not a place of safety for 
the sick and wounded ; no one dared to go to the river for water. 




MAJOR ANDR^:. 



222 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

Desertions of Indians and Canadians, and losses in killed and 
wounded, had reduced Burgoyne's army one half, and a large pro- 
portion of those who remained were not Englishmen. 

When General Burgoyne was holding a council of ofBcers, in a 
large tent, it was several times perforated by musket balls from 
the Americans, Grape-shot struck near the tent, and an eighteen- 
pound cannon ball swept across the table where the generals were 
sitting. «. 

Their deliberations were short, as might be expected under these 
circumstances, and it was unanimously resolved to open a treaty 
with the American general for an honorable surrender. It was 
bitter, but there was no alternative. 

A flag was sent to General Gates, who ordered a cessation of 
hostilities till sunset. After long negotiations, everything was agreed 
upon. 

Just before signing the articles, Burgoyne heard news of Eng- 
lish successes on the Hudson, and this ray of hope disposed him 
to withhold his signature from the " convention," as the agreement 
of surrender was called. General Gates, who also heard the news, 
drew up his army in order of battle, and sent a peremptory mes- 
sage to Burgoyne that if he did not sign the articles immediately, 
fire would be opened upon him. With reluctance, Burgoyne sub- 
scribed his name. 

The British army left their camp upon the hills, and marched 
sorrowfully down upon the Green, where the different companies 
were drawn up in parallel lines, and grounded their arms, and 
emptied their cartridge boxes. General Gates, with generous deli- 
cacy, ordered all his army into their camp, out of sight of their 
conquered enemy. 

General Burgoyne now rode forward to be introduced to General 
Gates. He met him with his staff at the head of his camp. Bur- 
goyne was in a rich uniform of scarlet and gold. Gates in a plain 
blue frock-coat. 



THE WAR. 225 

When within about a sword's length, they reined up and halted. 
The names of the two generals were mentioned to each other, as 
in any ordinary introduction, and General Burgoyne, raising his 
hat, said : 

" The fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your 
prisoner." 

The victor promptly replied : 

'* I shall always be ready to bear testimony that it has not been 
through any fault of Your Excellency." 

The other officers were introduced in turn, and the whole com- 
pany repaired to Gates's headquarters, where a sumptuous dinner 
was served. 

After dinner, the American army was drawn up in parallel lines 
on each side of the road, extending nearly a mile. Between these 
troops the British army, preceded by two mounted officers, bearing 
the American flag, had to march to the lively tune of Yankee 
Doodle. As they passed, the two commanding generals came out 
together from Gates's tent, and gazed upon the procession. 

Burgoyne had a large and commanding person, and was in all 
the splendor of scarlet and gold. Gates was less dignified in ap- 
pearance, and plainly dressed, but he was flushed with a great 
victory, while his opponent was foiled and disappointed. 

Without exchanging a word, Burgoyne stepped back, drew his 
sword, and in the presence of the two armies, presented it to 
General Gates. He received it with a courteous inclination of the 
head, and instantly returned it to the vanquished general. They 
then retired to the marquee, while the British army filed off on 
the march for Boston. 

"Oh, dear me!" said Hubert, with a long-drawn sigh, "it re- 
minds me of that picture by Velasquez, in the Madrid gallery, 
where Spinola is receiving the key to Breda." 

"Or Boabdil," added Bessie, "giving up his keys to the Chris- 
tian conquerors at Grenada. All such occasions are picturesque.'' 



226 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"The Alhambra," remarked Tom, "is a more picturesque setting 
for such a scene than the heights of Saratoga." 

"I do not know," said Professor Bruce, reflecting, "it was Oc- 
tober, you see. The woods were all brilliant with scarlet and gold, 
to make up for Gates's plain uniform. The scenery all about 
Saratoga is very fine, especially in autumn." 

"Is it.?" said Bessie. "I thought Saratoga was a sand plain, 
full of springs and fashionable people." 

" Ah, but the battle field is at some distance from the Springs, 
and the whole region is very pretty," replied the professor. 




NKAR SARATOr.A 



PAINTING LESbONS. 227 



CHAPTER XXV. 



PAINTING LESSONS. 



ABOUT this time Bessie and Alice found themselves most 
unexpectedly left much alone. The boys were building a 
House in the woods, on the steep bank at the upper end of the 
pond, and although the girls were permitted, and even invited, to 
give their opinion, in choosing the site of the House, their pres- 
ence was neither desirable nor helpful through the hard-working 
process of building. Soon after the project was started, too, they 
all agreed that it would be well to have the finished house a sur- 
prise for all except the workmen. 

Every day the boys disappeared as soon as lessons were over, 
and this brought about a little change in the household arrange- 
ments, which greatly pleased Bessie, who detested a hearty dinner 
in the middle of the day. 

Lavinia Mary, Belinda, and even Mrs. Bruce herself, would have 
been outraged by the idea of a late dinner. "Them Frenchified 
notions" did not suit the atmosphere of Utopia; but it suited 
their practical minds still less to prepare "a square meal of vict- 
uals," when there was nobody but women-folks to eat it. 

So the boys took with them daily a substantial lunch ; and the 
professor, his wife, and Bessie had a light noon meal, which the 
latter secretly considered her second breakfast. When all the fam- 
ily had assembled, about sunset, there was a copious meal of hot 
beefsteak, or a broiled chicken, with plenty of cream, and all kinds 
of good things. 

"Alice!" called Bessie from her window one day. Lessons were 



228 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

just over ; the boys were preparing to start off for the woods, in 
flannel shirts, armed with axes, hammers, and carpenter's tools^ 
" What are you going to do now ? " 

" I'm going home," said AUce disconsolately. 

" I know ; but I mean, what do you do every day now, when 
you go home ? " 

" Mother wants me to sew," replied Alice. " I was hemming, 
towels yesterday, but they might just as well be done on the 
machine." 

" Suppose you stay over here till your dinner time," said Bessie.. 
" I have got an idea. Come up in my room, and I'll explain." 

When Alice appeared in the doorway, Bessie drew in her head 
from the window, and went on : 

" You see I am left by myself, now the boys are off all the 
time, and I thought you might like to come and work at some- 
thing with me." 

Alice's face looked very bright. Bessie had not as yet taken 
much notice of her, and the younger girl felt that any attention 
was flattering and pleasant from so important and grown-up a 
person as Tom's sister. 

"What kind of work do you mean, Bessie.'" 

"You'll laugh," said Bessie, "but I was thinking of giving you 
painting lessons." 

"Painting lessons!" repeated Alice, "but you" — don't paint 
yourself, she was about to add, when it occurred to her that it 
might be rude. 

" Don't paint myself," said Bessie, quietly finishing the sentence 
just as Alice had thought it. "That is true, but that does not 
make any difference. I mean, I have been taught water-colors, 
only I have no vocation for it myself. I have paints and things, 
and I could tell you how to do it." 

" O, Bessie ! what put such a nice idea into your head .'' " 

"I'll tell you, Alice, it was seeing how gracefully you put flowers 




%4 M '.-%- -^/^^ 




1 







PAINTING LESSONS. 



231 



together. I have a theory that peo- 
ple that arrange flowers well, are nat- 
ural artists." 

Alice colored all over. " I did not 
think you were watching me," she said; 
" oh, thank you, thank you, ever so 
much ! " 

"Well, let's begin," 
said Bessie abruptly, 
in order to cut off 
too much gratitude. 



/iA 







" What flowers ' 
have we in the house } of 
course I mean to teach you 
flowers, — at any rate, at first. 
I do not know what capacity 
you may have besides." 

" I will run down and fetch them," said Alice, and in a moment 
she returned from the sitting-room with a jug full of pretty wild 
flowers they had brought in from the woods. 



ALICE'S FIRST SUBJECTS. 



232 A FAMILY FLIGHT AKUUND HOME. 

Bessie was fitting out a table for her, when she came back in 
her dressing-room, a sort of large closet off her chamber where 
there was but one window with a steady north light. 

"Let us take this Prince's pine, to begin with," said she. "This 
medeola will do very well too," and fastening one of them up 
with a pin upon the white shutter, so that the light fell sideways 
upon it, she showed Alice how to draw the outline lightly with 
a pencil, copying the forms carefully. 

"There, while you are drawing it, I will hunt up the paints," 
said Bessie. 

" What, paint already ! paint to-day ! " 

"Certainly," replied Bessie, "why not.-'" 

The delighted Alice set to work, and in the course of the les- 
son, which was to last two hours, had produced not unsatisfactory 
likenesses of two or three flowers. 

The reasons why Bessie took this task upon herself were mixed. 
She had a great feeling of loneliness, off in the country, of which 
neither Tom nor Hubert took any account. Finding it was gain- 
ing upon her, she set about to invent some way of giving pleas- 
ure to somebody, after a receipt of Miss Lejeune's for dull spirits. 

She hit upon Alice through a sort of fellow feeling for the girl, 
who had led a lonely life almost always. These were her highest 
motives ; Tom accounted for the proceeding otherwise, in a way 
which contained some truth. 

" Bessie loves to boss ! " he remarked to Hubert, after the ar- 
rangement had been announced. " She cannot get along without 
expounding something to somebody." 

The very next day Bessie had a new recruit, little expected. 
Alice had been settled scarcely more than an hour at her work, 
after the boys' departure, when they heard footsteps coming towards 
the house. Bessie, as usual, put her head out of the window to 
reconnoitre. 

"What! Augustine, have you come back?" 



PAINTING LESSONS. 



233 



V Y 



^1M' 










"Yes; my head aches," he replied pitifully. "I could not do 
anything, so they sent me home." 

"Well, come up here, and I will look at your tongue," said 
Doctor Bessie jocosely. 

"That will spoil everything!" cried Alice, "how provoking!" 

" You see," explained Augustine, " they are carrying planks up 
from the boat to . 

the house, and I ■• '^^ ■ 

kept resting, and 
went to lie down 
by the water to cool 
off, and Ernest and 
Hubert scolded me ; 
but when I stood up 
I was so dizzy Tom 
told me to come 
home." 

"You poor thing," 
said Bessie, " it is 
the heat. Go up 
and change your 
flannel shirt for 
something cool, and 
then you can come 
back here." 

"The lazy lump!" 
cried Alice, stopping 
from her work; "all the boys say he is not half so plucky as Ernest." 

"Those boys are remarkably different," replied Bessie. "I dare 
say he is not strong enough for such violent exercise. I only hope 
they won't all overwork themselves. I must speak to Tom about 
it." 

' He has spoiled our fun," grumbled Alice. 




augustinp: cooling off. 



2S4 A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUXU HOME. 

"Oh, no," said Bessie a little sharply; 'do not consider your- 
self the only person of importance in the world." 

Augustine returned, having washed his face, looking fresh and 
cool, and began to take a deep interest in Alice's work, who, 
silenced by Bessie's remark, made no objection, but it was evident 
she could not be watched and go on to any advantage. 

"Augustine, you used to paint," said Bessie. 

"Yes," he answered; "and I have a box of paints here." 

"Get it," said Bessie, *'and I will set you up in this corner of 
my table." 

She made no effort to give him instructions, but furnished him 
with a large block of paper, not first-class, but good enough. 

The boy was well satisfied, and worked diligently until luncheon 
time, when he exhibited his great work. It proved to be " The 
Surrender at Saratoga," and represented, in a crude way, the two- 
armies drawn up, while Burgoyne was delivering his sword to the 
victorious Gates. A blotch of indigo represented the sky, which 
had run down into the autumn tints of the foliage somewhat pain- 
fully, and these in their turn interfered with the splendor of 
General Burgoyne's scarlet coat ; but there was plenty of action 
in the scene, sharply delineated with a very black pencil before 
the colors were put on. 

This masterpiece received due praise from Mr. and Mrs. Bruce 
when it was exhibited to them at lunch. The good professor 
was pleased to find that any impression was left on the boy'.s 
mind by his reading, and Bessie was pleased v*rith herself for being 
patient with him. 

But when the other boys came home, hot, tired and hungry,, 
they treated the performance with contempt, and Ernest especially 
accused his brother of all the sins of slothfulness. 

"Anybody that chose to tie an apron round his neck," he said, 
"and sit up at a table, to paint like a baby, could do as well 
as that." 



PAINTING LESSONS. 235- 

Augustine was crestfallen. 

"But my head ached," he whined, falling back upon a suffering 
tone, unused throughout the whole day. 

" Fiddlesticks ! " shouted Ernest. 

To change the conversation, Bessie called upon the others to 
tell about the House, and they were soon describing their labors 
with animation. There was a saw-mill on a stream not very far 
from their chosen spot, where they had bought boards, and brought 
them down in a flat-bottomed craft belonging to the mill. 

"I tell you, it is hard work." said Hubert, "and here is a 
splinter I cannot get out." 

Mrs. Bruce, with spectacles on her nose, and a fine needle, ex- 
tracted the uncomfortable splinter. The boys were too tired for 
anything but bed, and the evening broke up early. 

"Tom," said Bessie, "Augustine looked really very pale when 
he came home. I think it is too much for him to work so 

hard." 

"I know it," said Tom, "I sent him home. I ought to have 
praised his picture. But you will make him too soft." 




Vir.NFTTE. 



iJ36 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPIKR XXVI. 



AFTER THL WAR. 



DOCTOR GOODKIN, being consulted about Augustine, readily 
pronounced sentence upon his working in the hot part of 
the day. The other boys were afraid of a similar verdict in their 
own cases, and carefully kept out of his way. 

Thus there came about a marked difference in the habits of the 
twins. Ernest kept at work with the others, and became brown, 
stout and strong, while his brother remained pale and slender, 
though his health visibly improved. The girls found him a valuable 
•cavalier and companion on their afternoon excursions after flowers. 

Alice's interest in flowers increased rapidly in consequence of 
Bessie's praise of her taste in arranging them, and her growing 
skill in drawing. The beautiful nodding yellow lilies, which filled 
the meadows at that time, were too much for her brush and pen- 
cil, but she grouped together masses of the real flowers on tall 
stems, to decorate the parlor. 

White-weed was everywhere, — blanching the green of the fields, 
and imbittering the browsing of cows. Alice had to be taught to 
love this ; it was too common, she thought, and could scarcely 
believe that it is raised in greenhouses in winter, and sold in cities 
at ten cents a head. 

"Alice, you can make about two dollars with that bunch, if you 
•can keep it fresh till next January," said Tom. 

Thus hot July went by, a succession of long sunny days. While 
the interest in the boys' house increased, they allowed themselves 
no holidays on account of it ; on the contrary, the two hours of 



AFTER THE WAR. 



237 



reading and study in the morning were a healthful balance to the 
steady hard work outdoors of the rest of the day. 

After the signing of 
the treaty at Paris, on 
the third of Septeni 
ber, 1783, the return 
of peace was celebra 
ted throughout Amer- 
ica with bonfires, rock- 
ets, and speeches, and 
with thanksgiving, on 
the nineteenth of the 
next April, the eighth 
anniversary of the 
fight at Lexington. 
The last remnant of 
the British army in 
the east had sailed 
down the Narrows on 
the twent y-fifth of 
November, a day 
called in consequence 
Evacuation Day, and 
celebrated with fire- 
works and military 
processions. 

His great work of 
deliverance over, 
Washington resigned 
his commission and 
made ready to go 
back to his estate on the banks of the Potomac, to the habits of 
a private gentleman. 




Alice's i.ilik: 



:238 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

About noon on Tuesday, the fourth of December, Washington 
bade adieu to his officers. The chiefs of the army were assem- 
bled, and he joined them, deeply moved as he beheld drawn up 
before him the men who for eight long years had shared with him 
the perils and hardships of the war. He said : 

"With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of 
you, and most devoutly wish your latter days may be as pros- 
perous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and 
honorable." 

The officers then approached one by one and took leave of him, 
and then they walked, through a line of infantry drawn up all the 
way, to the water, where a barge awaited the hero to carry him 
across the Hudson. The streets, balconies and windows were crowded 
with gazers ; the church bells were all ringing. Arrived at the ferry, 
he entered the barge in silence, stood up, took off his hat, and 
waved farewell. Then as the boat moved slowly out into the stream, 
amid the shouts of the citizens, his companions in arms stood bare- 
headed on the shore till the form of their illustrious commander 
was lost to view. 

After this, he publicly resigned his commission at an audience 
of Congress, when the Hall was crowded, in a short and solemn 
address. 

The outburst of love and gratitude soon subsided. The Revolu- 
tion, it was true, was accomplished, and it might be thought that 
the path of the young country was now made plain before it, and 
easy to follow. But the war had brought many evils, which were 
now pressing heavily upon the people, so that they forgot those 
which had been removed. 

The different States had been for a few years united by a com- 
mon danger ; but now that danger was gone, old quarrels broke 
forth again, and the union so lately formed seemed likely to be 
dissolved. 

The condition of the country was indeed critical. The people 



AFTER THE WAK. 



239 



had just emerged from a long and exhausting war. After their 
struggles, their suffering, their narrow escape, they were irritable 
and wavering. Everything about them was new. Old parties, old 
leaders, old forms of government had gone down in the storm of 




WASHINGTON ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. 



revolution, and no new ones had as yet arisen to take their places. 
They had yet to frame some foreign policy fit for the high place 
they were soon to take among the nations, and a home policy 
which would unite the conflicting interests of thirteen jealous re- 



240 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROTTNn HOME. 

publics. They had to pay i)ff an enormous debt, to restore a depre- 
ciated currency, and to replace it by a national one ; to establish 
public credit, and create a national commerce. Towards furthering 
all these things, Congress could do next to nothing but advise, 
recommend, and suggest. 

In these early days it had no fundamental power. It was held 
in but little esteem by the people, and its recommendations were 
often treated with open contempt. Each of the thirteen States re- 
served to itself all the rights of control, and treated the Conti- 
nental Government as if they were dealing with a foreign power. 
It was difficult even to assemble the delegates. The House was^ 
frequently forced to adjourn day after day for want of a quorum ; 
for as the journey to the capital, — then New York, — was for many 
of the members long and expensive, and as they were by no means 
sure of being paid for their trouble, many preferred to stay at home. 

Only the strong patriotism of such men as Alexander Hamilton, 
Benjamin Franklin and others, could have brought order out of 
such a condition of things. It was the custom then to influence 
the people by papers, written on all public questions. Squibs, 
broadsides and handbills were issued by every one who had a fancy 
to express an opinion. Hamilton's papers had great influence in a 
right direction. 

A convention of delegates was called to meet in Philadelphia, to 
make, if .possible, the government stronger, without doing harm to 
the liberties of the people. This convention lasted many weeks, 
and so did the discussion ; but at last the present Constitution of 
the United States was adopted on September 17, 1787. Only ten 
of the thirteen States accepted it at first, but these were more than 
enough for a majority, and it went into effect in 1788. New York, 
North Carolina, and Rhode Island were the three who refused at 
first to accept the conditions of the Constitution, but they had all 
come into it by 1790, 

The nation has been governed by this Constitution ever since 



AFTER THE WAR. 



241 



with a few amendments which have been since made by act of 
Congress. 

During all this time, Vermont, which was not one of the orig- 
inal thirteen States, remained " out in the cold." New York and 
New Hampshire as we have seen, and also Massachusetts, laid 
claim each to a part of her territory ; while Ethan Allen and 
other patriotic Vermonters demanded a separate and individual 
State government for themselves This occasioned much trouble to 
the old Continental Congress. As Vermont would not agree to 
the demands of the neighboring States, it was refused admission to 







srs:DOLi.ARs 



Six 3^0££m.§. 

nPHISBiU entitles iht 

_-J- Bearer to Teceivg 
SIX SPANISH MILLKD 
DOLLARS^ or the 

"Vahietheretif inGOLD 
^T SI JSVEK- according to 
a. Resolution of cC)N= 
GRESS putVdiai Phi. 
ladelpkiaN<yv:Z- l^/S- 



m',m$mw^m 








CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. 



the Union. The British generals in America, in 1780, before the 
signing of peace, entertained hopes of turning these disputes to 
the account of their cause, by detaching the district from the 
American cause and making it a British province. But this suited 
Ethan Allen as little as being swallowed up in New York or New 
Hampshire. He informed Congress, however, of the overtures the 
British were making to him, saying in addition : 

" I am as absolutely determined to defend the independence of 
Vermont as Congress is that of the United States, and rather 
than fail, I will retire with the hardy Green Mountain boys into 



242 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



the desolate caverns of the mountains, and wage war with human 
nature at large." 

During this time, the condition of Vermont was better in some 




'MTERS=TIL7aN.0"\ 



STATUK OF HKNJAMIN FRANKLIN AT rHII.ADEI.PHIA. 

respects than that of the Confederated States. She had managed 
to pay her own troops during the war, and as she had no con- 



AFTER THE WAR. 243 

nection with Congress, no part of the burden of the public debt 
of the United States rested on her. The people, observing that 
their own condition was improving, while that of their neio-hbors 
was constantly growing worse, ceased to regard their admission to 
the Union as an event to be desired, especially when by the re- 
moval of British troops, on the treaty of peace, she was relieved 
from danger of foreign attack. 

But after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, all parties 
became anxious to admit the independence of Vermont. The diffi- 
culties with New York were adjusted, and a controversy was ended 
which had been carried on with great spirit for more than twenty 
years, calling into exercise the native courage and talents of the 
Vermont leaders. The State of Vermont was admitted into the 
Union on the fourth day of March, 1791. 

Vermont was unlike any other State, in having no provincial 
government of her own, previous to the Revolution, while the orig- 
inal thirteen were all provinces under the Crown of England. Ver- 
mont had never been separately recognized by the Crown, nor, al- 
though placed under New York, had she recognized the author- 
ity of that province, or of any other external power. Her citizens 
had formed themselves, in fact, into a little independent republic, 
like the sturdy mountaineers of Switzerland, and by the boldness, 
wisdom and prudence of her statesmen, she had succeeded in regu- 
lating her internal affairs to the great advantage of her people. 
So that Vermont may be called the most independent of all the 
independent States of America- 
Governor Chittenden, the first Governor of Vermont, was well 
fitted to be the leader of such independent, dauntless, uncultivated 
settlers. He was born in Guilford, Conn., in 1729. Early in the 
spring of 1774, he removed with his family to the New Hamp- 
shire grants, and from that time shared the fortunes of the grow- 
ing State. He was elected Governor in 1778, and held that office, 
with the exception of one year, until his death in 1797. 



244 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS. 



BY the end of July the House was done, and as August was 
to come in on Friday, Saturday, the second, was chosen as 
the great day of its dedication and introduction to the friends. 

No lessons therefore were to be thought of that day. After early 
breakfast, the workmen departed to the scene of festivities. The 
girls were invited to arrive about eleven, in order to do their share 
in the preparations for the great feast which was to take place at 
one o'clock, in honor of the chief guests, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce. 
Alice's mother, and her father, Mr. Martin, were also invited in 
great form, but they declined the dinner part of it ; the farmer 
saying that if he could manage to get round, he would bring Mrs. 
Martin up in the carriage in the course of the afternoon. Mrs. 
Martin was a little of an invalid, and seldom left the house, ex- 
cept for meeting on Sundays, — never on foot. 

Accordingly, a little before eleven, Lucy and the carryall stood 
before the door, while Lavinia Mary and Belinda packed the latter 
with baskets containing the dinner. Augustine stood by the head 
of the horse, lest she should start, for form's sake, though Tucy 
had never been known to start, within the memory of the oldest 
inhabitant, before she had received many duckings and jerks of 
the reins. Alice ran down from up-stairs with a huge mysterious 
paper ])ackage, which she jnit carefully on the front seat, — for the 
girls too had their secret, — and Bessie appeared last, drawing on 
her gloves, and h)()king about her to see if she had forgotten 
anything. 



THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS. 



245 



" Guess you'll have a good day," said Lavinia Mary, shading her 
eyes with her hand to inspect the sky. "Mighty hot, though, — hot 
as mustard. Land's sakes ! " Ending her 
sentence thus abruptly, she vanished 
into the kitchen by the back door, 
but returned in a min- 
ute with the mustard- 

N 




BARS AT THE END OF THE ROAD 



pot, which 
she was hastily 
doing up in a 
newspaper. "I'd 
as liked to as not for- 
got it, Miss Bessie," 
she said. " Some 
likes mor'n some, so 
"^ I didn't put none on." 

And Augustine climbed up 



" Come on, Augustine," said Bessie, 
on the front seat. 

"Do not sit on the — " cried Alice, checking herself. 

" What is it .-* " he asked, squeezing the bundle. 

" You'll see ! " replied Alice, smiling joyfully. 

It was less than half a mile that they could go with the wagon, 
for the charm of the House was to be totally inaccessible to the 
world. The first part was along the village road, past the weather- 



246 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



worn homestead where an old lady, the last of her race, lived all 
by herself, and then turning off to a cart path through pastures 
to the entrance of the woods, where a pair of bars stopped their 
progress. 

'' Now, do you think it is safe to leave the horse here," asked 
Bessie, "till Augustine goes back for the Bruces .? " 

"Yes, indeed," replied Alice, "what could happen.? My! what 
lots and lots of raspberries there are." 

"Don't say 'my'! and take this basket, please," said Bessie. 




THE WEATHER-WORN HOMESTEAD, 



" What a pity not to have some at the feast. Look here, Augus- 
tine, suppose you stay here and pick all you can, instead of com- 
ing on with us, and then you can go back for the others." 

Relentless Bessie ! It was not a pleasing scheme for Augustine, 
who was wild to sec the House, as it was now a fortnight since 
he had been near it. 

"I have no basket," he urged, "and, besides, how should I 
know when it was time.''" 

" See, I will lend }'()U my watch, onl\' do not smash it ; and 
you can have this basket tliat the bottles of milk and coffee arc in. 
Now jump out, Augustine, that's a good boy. It's just eleven 








FESTOONS OF CLEMATIS. 



THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS. 249 

now, and you can start back by half-past twelve, or sooner if you 
have filled that basket." 

Alice had taken down the bars, politely, for Bessie to get over. 

"Just put them up, will you, Augustine.-*" she called out, and 
she and Bessie ran off, laughing, their hands full of parcels and 
baskets. 

"The boys will be soon here to get the big things!" cried 
Bessie, and then they turned into the woods and Augustine was out 
of sight. 

"Bessie, you were tyrannical to make him stay!" exxlaimed Alice. 

"Poor boy," said Bessie, "but, you see, I thought the boys would 
be gruff with him ; they consider him so lazy about the House. 
If he brings a pail of berries it will serve as a propitiatory offer- 
ing. Anyhow, I shall put it in that light. Where are they } 
Halloo ! " 

Answering voices told them to turn in at the blazed birch on 
their right, and a few moments brouglit them to the site of the 
House. The spot was chosen chiefly on account of the depth of 
the water there, affording good advantages for diving. The shores 
rose high above the pond, and a steep bank sloped down to its 
edge, so that from the top of the ridge a lovely view of the oppo- 
site shore and the sparkling blue surface of the water were to be 
seen through the thickly growing birch and oak-trees. 

" How pretty ! " cried both girls ; " but where is the House .-• " 

Tom and Ernest had come to meet them, hot, and with blazing- 
faces, their hats pushed off their brows. They led their visitors 
two or three steps, and then they beheld the House, on a little 
natural opening in the thick woods, yet quite embowered with 
branches, which had been cut away sufficiently to admit the view 
of the pond. 

The House was but a rude affair, but of course it was regarded 
by all as nothing less than a castle. Four trees, at convenient 
distances of about ten feet, had been chosen for the corners, and 



250 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

tu these planks were nailed. The back was higher than the front, 
to allow a sloping roof; there was a "practicable" door of en- 
trance, and opposite, a large opening by way of a window, admit- 
ting a draught and a pretty vista through the House. 

"Where did you get this door?" demanded Bessie; "it seems 
more ancient than the rest of the architecture." 

" Why ! it's that door that was in the barn chamber at Alice's. 
Don't you know .'' we had it in the performance," said Tom. 

" Come in," cried Hubert. He was inside the House, still occu- 
pied in putting up festoons of clematis brought from the woods. 

There was a plank floor laid, and the interior decorations gave 
the charm to the House, which on the outside had but a bare, new 
look, that did not recommend it. However, every chip and shav- 
ing had been cleared away, so that it had already a settled look, 
and the battered paint on the old door lent respectability to the 
glare of the new bright boards of which the walls were made. 

Inside there were tables and chairs, some of recent construction, 
others brought from garret and barn ; and everywhere flowers, — in 
ginger pots, flower pots, and knotholes in the boards. Colored 
prints from the Graphic adorned the walls. 

" How nice you have made it look ! " said Bessie, after some 
time had been occupied in admiring details. " Now, Alice, show 
them your surprise." 

" Perhaps you will not like them," said Alice shyly, " but I 
wanted to make something for the House." 

She was opening her paper parcel as she spoke, and now drew 
out of it a set of curtains for the window, made of delightful gay 
chintz with great roses spreading over it. 

Strange to say, the curtains exactly fitted the window. They 
were all ready to put up, and just the size to stretch in gathered 
folds across the top, and parting in the middle, to fall to the 
ground. There were bright ribbons with which to loop up either 
side. 



[I'fi p'lvi'i'fj 'I'li 



iiii,:Mi|yi%j|,\,'. iir 







FINISHING TOUCHES. 



THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS. 253 

" How did you know how to make them fit ? " said Tom. 

"How did you know there was a window.?" asked Hubert. 

"We made Augustine tell, and was it not clever of him, he 
knew the exact dimensions of the window." 

"Where is Augustine.?" then they asked, all of them. 

The girls related how they left him gathering berries in the hot 
sun, and in compassion for such labors, the boys agreed to con- 
done for good and all his abandoning work at the House. 

"But all this time," exclaimed Bessie, "we ought to be setting 
the table, and somebody must get the baskets." 

So the boys led the way to a short distance from the House, 
where, with planks left over from its construction, they had erected 
a table on legs driven down into the ground, a foot high, "suited," 
as they explained, " to the height of the seats," which were noth- 
ing else than the ground. 

The tablecloth was in the parcel with the curtains, so that 
could be spread at once; and soon Ernest came panting back 
from the bars with two heavy baskets, one containing plates, and 
the other solid provisions. 

He reported Augustine as making good progress with the rasp- 
berries, adding, " He wanted, though, to come on and leave me to 
cro back for the others. I told him 'not much'!" 
" The feast was set, the guests arrived. They were as indulgent 
in praise as the girls had been, and indeed the place was very 
pretty. Augustine was honorably escorted to all points of interest,, 
and made to feel that his raspberries were a valuable contribution 

to the occasion. 

Bessie had been promised a chance to boil the kettle, if she 
would bring it, to make coffee, an accomplishment learned from 
Belinda; she was delighted with the preparations made for her,- 
three crossed sticks on which to suspend the kettle, gypsy fash- 
ion, and a little pile of dried branches all ready to light. 

The repast was excellent, and a soft breeze from the water 



'^^'^ A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUNl) HOMK. 

tempered the heat. As soon as it was finished, they repaired to the 
House. One old rocking-chair was comfortable enough for Mrs. 
Bruce, who sat in it by the window, looking into the thick folia^'-e. 
The professor put himself upon two chairs, and smoked his pipe, 
the others grouped themselves on the threshold ov on the floor, 
reposing after arduous labor. They recited all their adventures and 
difficulties in building the House ; and Tom explained how trifling 
had been the cost. 

" I mean to have a cupboard, Bessie, up over your head there, 
where we can keep some cups and saucers, for we mean to live 
here a good deal." And they went on to plan other improve- 
ments. 

Alice told how she put the finishmg touches to the curtains the 
night before, after she went up to bed, with only one candle. 
" For," she said, " we wrote to New York for patterns, and they 
did not send the stuff till day before yesterday." 

Mr. and Mrs. Martm did not come. The day ended in a swim 
for the boys in the cool water below their House. 



FRANKLIN AND LAFAYETTE. 255 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



FRANKLIN AND LAFAYETTE. 



THE boys now rested upon their laurels. They felt well satis- 
fied with the happy end of their labors in housebuilding, 
and slept with the sense of being proprietors in real estate. The 
land, by the way, was supposed to be a part of the old wood- 
land farm which had once been included in the original property 
of Mr. Horner's grandfather Titles and boundaries were but vague 
in the outskirts of Utopia, and no one was likely to lay claim to 
the place ; but Tom and Hubert scorned the imputation of being 
squatters. 

The whole family rejoiced and sympathized with them in the 
well-earned possession of their country-seat. The next day, Sun- 
day, which was truly a day of rest for them, the conversation 
chiefly turned upon the favorite subject. Plans were made for 
additional decoration, and internal improvement ; and no other ex- 
peditions were thought of than those which should centre on the 
House. Many a fine name was proposed for the new acquisition: 
"Horner's Corner," "The Alhambra of the West," "Hole in the 
Woods," " Divers' Places," and many others, but all were rejected 
as unsuitable, and it never was called anything but The House. 

They expected to enter at once upon a series of daily visits to 
the House, where they meant to pass all their leisure time ; but 
alas! on Monday it began to rain in the course of the morning, 
and rained steadily for several days, as it sometimes does in 
August, though not often so early in the month. In the afternoon 
the storm was violent, so that not even Tom and Hubert cared to 



256 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



venture out so far. There was thunder and lightning; great 
crashes rattled round the sky, and it was almost dark in the mid- 
dle of the afternoon. Every one thought it was going to clear up, 
but instead of that, the weather went from one disagreeable phase 
to another, — cold and chilly, or hot and muggy, but always wet. 

These were trying times for Bessie and Alice. The boys, of 
course, did not stay in the house all day, but sallied forth in 

spite of the weather ; but there 
were hours when time hung 
heavy on their hands, and they 
invaded the quiet of the room 
whiere Alice was trying to paint, 
and Augustine composing his- 
torical pictures. 

" Do, Hubert, go away ! " cried 
Alice. " If you sit on the edge 
of the table it shakes my draw- 
ing-block." 

"Let me mix your colors for 
you," said he, taking a brush ; 
" you ought to do the middle of that daisy with gamboge." 

Alice leaned hastily forward to rescue her favorite brush. The 
water-bottle was upset and ran all over her careful drawing. An 
outcry was the consequence. Bessie came to the rescue with 
towels, but said impatiently : 

"Tom, I think you might take the boys away from here!" 
Tom was engaged in drawing a cannon for Augustine in the 
foreground of the battle of l^ennington, in a realistic manner, using 
spools plucked from Bessie's work-box, to mark round the wheels. 
He looked up at the rain which was pouring in torrents. 

"Where shall we go } Do you want us to be wet through .-* 
Come, fellows, let . us go upstairs and rummage round in the 
irarrct." 




OLD l.ll'.KRTY P.EI.L. 







Wi\v»mMmii}v 





FEANKLIN AND LAFAYETTE. 259 

Hubert, meanwhile, apologized humbly to Alice, and tried to dry 
her block with his handkerchief. 

"No matter," she said, "I was going to wet it all over in a 
minute." 

It might be supposed that this enforced suspension of out-door 
amusements would have made the boys turn willingly to their 
studying for occupation. But it did not work exactly in that way. 
They were restless and irritable, and less able to fix their atten- 
tion to abstract subjects than when their daily toil in the woods 
had worked off their superfluous energy and animal spirits. 

Still, however, the reading went on. Mr. Bruce employed differ- 
ent boys to look up different points of history concerning the 
men and times they were engaged upon. 

The Federal Convention which brought about the new constitu- 
tion was a remarkable body of men. Every State sent up in her 
delegation some one renowned as a statesman or a soldier of whose 
services she was justly proud, in the cause of freedom. A few of 
them, when the Revolution broke out, had raised regiments, has- 
tened off to the army, fought through the war, and come home 
as distinguished and skilful officers. Some had been Governors of 
States, some were renowned as jurists and scholars, and others had 
year after year represented their States in Congress. 

But the fame of no man was so splendid, or went back to so 
early a time, as that of Benjamin Franklin. His name was known 
to every learned society in Europe, when half the delegates to the 
convention were in the nursery, for he was born in 1706. 

He was, in truth, the greatest American then living. His mind 
was one of the finest in an age not born of great minds, and 
among its diverse qualities was prominent that homely wisdom 
which had been well named " common sense." 

The son of an English tallow-chandler, his early years were 
spent among the children of laborers and mechanics. When a boy, 
he stole away from his father's house, with a few pence in his 



2dO 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



pockets, and went forth to seek his fortunes. He slept in cock- 
lofts and garrets, and had to endure poverty and want. Before he 
was fifty, this low-born, friendless, self-taught Yankee had overcome 
every obstacle in his path, and raised himself to great reputation 
and position. In his old age he stood before kings and Parlia- 




liENJAMlN IKANKLIN, 



ments, was the friend of powerful statesmen, and honored by men 
renowned in every walk of science and art. From such training, 
which might have spoiled an inferior nature, he came forth a 



FRANKLIN AND LAFAYETTE. 



2()1 



rounded and perfected man, the most kind-hearted, the most genial, 
the most unassuming of mortals, — a deHghtful companion and friend. 
His popularity in France was great. When he walked the streets 
of Paris the people followed him in crowds. His portrait hung in 
the window of every print shop and over the fireplaces of men of 
fashion. Men of science did him honor, women of the world wrote 
him sonnets. Snuff-boxes and walking-sticks were ci la Fraiikliii. 
His maxims and sayings were printed in 
the newspapers and quoted everywhere. 

The popularity of Franklin in France was 
matched by that of Lafayette on this side 
of the Atlantic. In 1776, he was a captain 
of dragoons in a French regiment. Hear- 
ing, one day, at a dinner, that the Amer- 
ican colonies had declared their independ- 
ence, he resolved at once to draw his sword 
in the cause of American liberty. He made 
the acquaintance in Paris of Franklin, and 
the other American agents there, and told 
them his intention. Even they themselves, 
as well as all his friends, endeavored to 
dissuade him, for this was at the darkest 
period of the Revolutionary War. But no 
persuasion turned him from his purpose. 

He arrived in America with eleven offi- 
cers, on the twenty-fifth of April, 1777; 
he was then about twenty years old. 

The sensation produced by his appear- 
ance in this country was of course great, 
for it gave timely impulse to the disheartened Americans to find 
that there were men in the first rank of nobility in Europe who 
not only took an interest in the cause of liberty, but were willing 
to share its sufferings. 




FRANKLIN GARDENING. 



262 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUXD HOME. 



Lafayette landed in Charleston, S. C, and went to Philadelphia, 
where Congress was then in session. 

He received a commission from Congress, which, however, was 
considered merely honorary, but it soon became evident that he 

meant to fight in earnest. 
From this time he served 
regularly in the army, be- 
came a warm friend to 
Washington, and received 
the command of important 
positions, in which he dis- 
tinguished himself for his 
bravery. 

After two years, his own 
country being at war, La- 
fayette considered it his 
duty to place himself at 
the disposal of his own 
government, and he returned 
home, to be received there 
with demonstrations of pop- 
ular enthusiasm. He was 
untiring in his efforts for 
the cause of liberty with 
the French government, and 
it was mainly his efforts 
that caused French troops 
to be sent to America. 

Fifteen months after leav- 
ing America, he re-crossed 
the Atlantic, and rejoined Washington at headquarters, inspiring 
the army whenever he came, with fresh hopes. For his services at 
the siege of Yorktown, he was publicly thanked by Washington on 




hi A I I I'. i)l' LAI- A\ 1.1 1 K. 



FRANKLIN AND LAFAYETTE. 2G3 

the day after the surrender of Cornwallis. The campaign being over, 
he returned to France, but in 1784 he revisited the United States. 

Everywhere he was heartily welcomed and entertained. He landed 
on the fourth of August, and went directly to Mount Vernon, the 
home of Washington ; on the fifteenth of October he reached Bos- 
ton, where the presence of the distinguished Frenchman created 
no little excitement. Three hundred of the most respectable of 
the citizens assembled in Faneuil Hall, where thirteen arches were 
put up, adorned with flowers, and made gay with bunting. These 
arches grew smaller from the centre towards the ends of the room, 
and in the one immediately over the head of the Marquis was a 
ficitr-de-lys. Music was played during the dinner, and when the 
cloth had been removed, thirteen toasts were proposed ; as each 
toast was drunk, thirteen cannon were discharged in the market- 
place, and three rounds of clapping were given, a new fashion of 
applause but lately come in. 

No toast brought out such shouting as the toast of General 
Washington. No sooner had the name of that well-beloved gen- 
eral been announced, than a curtain, which hung behind the Mar- 
quis, was rent asunder, displaying the picture of Washington, cov- 
ered with flowers and laurels, and supported by the ensigns of 
America and France. Lafayette quickly arose from his seat, his 
face beaming with pleasure and surprise. He began to applaud, 
and was instantly joined by the assembled company. 

Everywhere throughout the country he was received with enthu- 
siasm. On Christmas day he quitted New York for France. 

Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, 
was born September 6, r/S/, and died (in Paris) May 19, 1834. 

"I begin to see," remarked Hubert, "what makes Faneuil Hall 
so important. I wish I had looked at it more attentively. You 
see, I took no interest, that first day, in the Cradle of Liberty." 

"I wish we could go to Boston again," said Tom. "I believe 
I never thought much about its historical interest before, myself." 



264 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



PIRATES. 



SOON after the Revolution, the growing commerce of the United 
States began to extend itself as far as the Mediterranean, 
and there, being entirely unprotected, it became an easy prey for 
the Barbary powers. Without any previous notice, and without 
any pretext other than that Congress had not purchased their 
friendship with a tribute, the Algerine corsairs, between the years 
1785 and 1793, captured fifteen American vessels. The ships and 
cargoes were made prizes, and their officers and crews condemned 
to slavery in its worst forms. 

There is scarcely anything in modern history so extraordinary as 
the existence for nearly three centuries of the private princedom 
of Algiers. A State which lived by robbery, and that of the 
worst and most cruel description ; a stealer of souls, trafficking in 
human blood, it was a perpetual danger to every traveller whose 
duty or business led him across the Mediterranean. 

The State was founded by the Moors on their expulsion from 
Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, and the Spanish au- 
thority was never established there. Charles the Fifth made an 
attempt to subjugate the Barbary powers, but it was a failure, and 
from that time forward there were unceasing hostilities between 
them and the Christians ; thence sprang the system of piracy which 
made the corsairs so terrible in the Mediterranean, and which was 
so long submitted to by the Christian powers. 

These Algcrines lived upon exactions and plunder, — a nest of rob- 
bers, with few redeeming traits save those of courage and nautical 



PIRATES. 267 



skill. Though their avowed religion was that of Mahomet, many 
of their leaders were renegades, — Greeks and Italians, fiercer and 
more bitter with their captives than any native Turk. With such 
a population, almost altogether dependent upon the robbery of the 
seas, the Algiers of that period presents a singular spectacle of 
the moral effect of the fear produced by the tortures of slavery, 
which made the sight of a corsair at sea appalling. One of the 
•early authorities from which knowledge is gained of this strange 
community is Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, who was a 
captive for five years in Algiers. 

When a young man, he served with the Spanish army in the 
famous battle of Lepanto, one of the most important naval battles 
ever fought (October 7, 167 1 ), as the first effective blow given 
to the power of the Turks who had hitherto been thought invin- 
cible at sea. Cervantes received two wounds, and lost the use of 
his left hand for life. Returning from Naples to Spain, the galley 
in which he was was taken by the pirates. It is hard to imagine, 
in this country, how a shipload of weary veterans coming home 
after an exhausting war, could be thus suddenly arrested upon 
their way and carried off to the most galling slavery. 

" When the ship," says the early account, " arrived in the harbor 
of Algiers, all the oars were taken out and carried away, and 
not a single Turk was allowed to leave the ship until it was thus 
stripped bare, like a bird without wings; for a moment of forget- 
fulness would have given the captives time to seize the oars 
and escape. Having taken these precautions, the goods, slaves, and 
all the booty was landed, to the great joy of all the merchants 
and of the king. The captives were examined, and arranged in 
classes. The rich and noble represented money; they would pay 
a good ransom. The others were cruelly treated, and set to work 
at once, while the nobles were kept apart. 

The masters were arbitrary and cruel; the captivej were com- 
pelled to row the galleys, and do all sorts of menial work. When 



268 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

a new captive ship arrived, it was greeted with shouts of furious 
joy from the native population." 

Such was the condition of the victims of the corsair in the 
sixteenth century. The strangest part of the story is, that such a 
state of things should have been allowed by Christian nations to 
last so long. 

It was reserved for the United States to point the way to an 
abolition of this monstrous tyranny. As the young republic had 
no money, tribute to the Barbary States was especially galling. 
Negotiations were set on foot, and treaties at last made. 

In the course of these negotiations, ambassadors were sent from 
America to the several Barbary States. Thomas Barclay, who was- 
charged with the mission to Morocco, wrote home letters about 
what he saw, which were most eagerly read at that time (1786), 
when scarcely anything was known of the country. The emperor 
he declared to be a man possessed of many amiable qualities, but 
his private life was "disgusting and loathsome." 

As for his subjects, they were fierce and lazy, delighting in 
cruelty, and avaricious to the last degree. Fear of God had made 
them put up some costly and beautiful mosques, but they had 
done nothing more. Their streets were despicable, and their houses 
a sight to behold. 

His first audience with the emperor took place in the garden 
of the palace. His Majesty was on horseback ; about him were a 
thousand attendants. He asked numberless questions about America, 
and the voyage from it ; whether they grew in its forests timber 
fit for ships. When these questions were answered to his satis- 
faction, he said, 

" Send your ships and trade with us. I will do anything you 
desire." Whereupon his people all cried out in a loud voice, 

" Allah preserve the life of our master ! " 

Among the gifts brought to him by the Americans were an 
atlas and a watch. With the atlas he seemed familiar ; the watch 



PIKATES. 



271 



he examined with much care, for it was an alarm watch, the 
first he had ever seen. 

The result of Mr. Barclay's visit was a promise from the em- 
peror, "on the first day of the blessed month Ramadan, 1200," of a 
lasting treaty with the United States. But it was not until 18 17 
that he prohibited piracy throughout his dominions. 

The regency of Algiers was by far the most formidable of the 




THE HOUSE FARED ILL DURING THE WET WEATHER. 



Barbary powers. In 181 5, Commodore Decatur, encountering an 
Algerine squadron, took a frigate and a brig, and sailed into the 
bay of Algiers, where he forced the dey to surrender all Ameri- 
can prisoners, and to abandon all future claims for tribute. This 
bold example was followed by the English, but piracy was not 
suppressed. A long struggle between France and Algiers ended 
in the occupation of the country by the French, which has lasted 
to the present time. Since 1830, nothing has been heard of the 



272 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOMPl 








system of Algerine piracy, a system which had been the terror of 
civilization since the days of the Conquest of Granada. 

" So this was the career of your beloved Moors, Bessie, after 

they left Granada," 
said Hubert. 

" It only shows," 
replied Bessie, "what 
a mistake it was to 
turn them out of 
Spain. If they had 
^./^ remained there, im- 
proving the land and 
developing their in- 
dustries, the Alham- 
bra would not now 
be a ruin, and the 
terrible system of pi- 
racy would not have 
been established. 



Satan finds some mischief 
still 
For idle hands to do, 



you know," she ad- 
ded. 

" That view should 
be taken with qual- 
ifications," remarked 
the professor, who was 
apt to take Bessie's 
bold generalizations 
more seriously than she herself even cared to do. 

"Many other elements entered into the traffic of the corsairs. 



OLD SWORDS. 



PIRATES. 273 

The Turk had as much to do with that warfare as the Moor." 

"The Moors," remarked Bessie sententiously, "surrounded by 
Christians, were intelligent, peaceable and refined. Under tiie in- 
fluence of the Turk, they became barbarous and cruel." 

The boys, who cared nothing for such speculations, were willing 
to fill up a rainy day by imagining themselves Algerines and 
captives at the top of the house, making use of a collection of 
rusty swords and other weapons they found there. From the noise 
which shook the ceilings of the story below, it was imagined that 
the conflicts were of the most alarming nature. None complained, 
however. The girls were glad to be left alone ; even Augustine 
deserted them for these contests, which proved to be not so se- 
vere a tax on his energies as carryirs neavy planks up a hill in 
the hot sun. 

The hearts of all were still with the House, and on the second 
day of the bad weather Tom and Hubert walked up over the road 
and through the woods, dripping with wet, to inspect it. On their 
return, the report was disheartening. "Everything is spoilt!" cried 
Hubert as he entered the house. 

"There are your curtains," said Tom, throwing down on the hall 
floor a wet and shapeless mass. 

" What a pity," said Bessie, who, with Alice, had come down 
to hear the tale. " I have thought of the curtains often since it 
began to rain. If it had only held up till you had the shutter 
made for the window." 

" Shutter ! held up ! " exclaimed the boys together. " If you 
could see the House. It is a sort of swimming-bath inside. The 
water has streamed through the cracks, and run down the hill over 
the floor, and there is not a dry inch in the place." 

" The pictures are all washed off the walls, and most of them 
are a kind of pulp. It is lucky we had nothing precious there. " 

" The box of crackers ! " exclaimed Bessie. 

"The box of crackers," said the boys, laughing, "was washed off 



274 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

the shelf, and fell open on the floor, and the crackers were all 
over the room, in different degrees of soak." 

" Look here, Lavinia Mary," called Alice to that person, who 
was passing through the hall, " see my pretty curtains, all 
spoiled ! " 

"Land's sakes," she said, as she lifted them up, being the first 
one who had ventured to touch the wet heap. " Them will wash ; 
don't you worry." 

"Wash!" shouted Tom. "I should think they had been washed 
enough already ; the question is, whether they will iron." 

" Look, Miss Bessie," continued Lavinia Mary, not regarding his 
words. "It doesn't run one bit. Them colors is as sot as sot. 
I'll just rence them out and hang them up in the kitchen, and 
they will come out beautiful." 

So saying, she dropped the curtains into an empty pail she had 
in her hand, and retired to the kitchen. 

"Do you think you can make the House water-tight.''" asked 
Alice. 

" The thing is to tar and feather the roof," said Tom. 



TWO PAPAS. 275 



CHAPTER XXX. 



TWO PAPAS. 



SUMMER rains have an end sooner or later, and after the spell 
of bad weather the sun came out and dried up the roads, 
making every leaf and spray sparkle with light. Hot, " muggy " 
days succeeded, the flowers pressed forward with redoubled vigor, 
freshened by so much wet. Little humming-birds whirred about 
the bright blossoms of the honeysuckle that grew over the door, 
and darted in and out of its festoons. In the fields, golden-rod 
was gorgeous, its thirty-seven varieties being fairly represented at 
Utopia in quantities of each species. Bessie persuaded Augustine 
to take an interest in collecting as many different kinds as pos- 
sible, and though he would not take the trouble to study the 
minute variations with the botany, through the aid of a microscope, 
he was quick to learn the various forms the plant assumes, and 
the soil they each effect. He knew where to find the slender one- 
sided plume of iiemoralis growing thick by sandy roadsides, and in 
dry fields, while tall canadensis, sometimes six feet high, was only 
to be seen in the borders of the woods. 

He and Bessie were very learned about the names, and joyously 
•called to each other when they were walking to announce a 
Virga-anrca or an altissinia. They were much delighted when 
Bessie's search in Grey's Botany was awarded by finding their 
very specimen attributed to " Rocky Banks in West Vermont." 

This pursuit they had to themselves, getting no sympathy from 
their companions. 

" It is all the same thing ! " said Ernest one day pettishly. 



276 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AR0U:N'D HOME. 




" I do not see why 
you go grubbing after 
the ugly common stuff. 
It is all nothing but 
golden-rod." 

" Let them amuse 
themselves," said Tom 
indulgently. "It 
makes them feel su- 
perior to have so many 
such learned names. 
for the same thing. 
They will forget them 
all before next year, 
and then it will be 
all to do over again." 
Botany contains a 
fund of enjoyment for 
those who attack it in 
earnest; it is, on the 
other hand, a source 
of irritation to outsid- 
ers, who are bored by 
the long names at- 
tached to their simple favorites, and who profess to regard it as a 
wanton destruction to pull the pretty flowers to pieces for the 
sake of classifying them. 

The professor was delighted with the kindred soul of Bessie, 
and surprised at the skill with which she had drawn out of Au- 
gustine, whom he had been inclined to consider a dull and listless 
boy, tastes and sympathies of a refined character. 

Every one was willing to bring home great bunches of the 
brilliant weed ; and Alice had her hands full in arranging this 



SIDE DOORWAY. 



TWO PAPAS. 



277 




•>^" 



and the other splendors which came every day from the woods. 
Each old jug, pail, plate that could be found, everything and 
anything that would hold water, was put to service, and every 
part of the large house was decorated, even to the side doorway 
leading to the yard. 

Meanwhile work was resumed upon the House. Not that Tom 
ever hoped, or had hoped, to make it water-tight, but he had not 
expected such a deluge as that it received on the very day after 
its inauguration. Tar- 
red paper was spread 
upon the roof, and * 

that overlaid with ad- ^ 

ditional boards. An 
ample cupboard. a 
masterpiece of ama- 
teur carpenter's work 
which was really wa- 
ter-tight, was made 
and fastened up on 
one side of the walls ; 
in this it was the 
plan to keep whatever pro- 
visions were to stay there. 
It had a lock and key, and 
the key was kept by Tom. 

After all, the enjoyment of 
the House was in the building 
of it. When it was done, the importance 
of it subsided in the minds of the chil- 
dren. Alice's curtains were re-hung, and 
the walls were ornamented again with 
a fresh set of illustrations from the GrapJiic and the like. Bessie 
suggested that statuary and plaster ornaments, as capable of standing 







IN THE HONEYSUCKLE. 



278 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

wet, were the proper ornaments for a house of this description, and 
she presented the establishment with a plaster cat which was in 
the collection of a wandering pedler who came round one day,, 
even to that remote spot. Bessie talked Italian with him, and 
bought the cat. It was very ugly, with green and red spots- 
splashed over it at irregular intervals. It was given a place of 
honor in the House, on a corner bracket made for it especially,. 
and every one hoped that the first rain would wash it white. 

As it happened, there was no more rain during the month of 
August. All the precautions taken too late for past mishaps,, 
were unnecessary for the future. The cat remained the presiding 
genius of the House, and became a hero in consequence, often- 
quoted as a living creature, and credited with strange experiences. 

The boys dived and swam from their rock in the pond below 
their house. Alice often walked up there in the end of the after- 
noon, and stayed chatting with them till it was time to come 
home to tea. Bessie did not join them so often. Her favorite 
haunt was the brook, which babbled over the stones deliciously. 
It was always cool along its edge, and stepping from rock to rock,. 
she discovered many treasures — flowers which delight in shade and 
dampness grew there, and there were ferns, even maiden-hair, to 
be found dipping their tips in thg stream. ^^s^,^^ 

As she wandered along by herself, Bessie frequently thought how 
strange it was that the Homers, who so loved to be together, 
should be thus scattered about the world. Letters had come an- 
nouncing the safe arrival of Philip and his mother at Bordeau.x. 

They had joined the Herveys, and now were all enjoying together 
the lovely scenery of Pau and its neighborhood. Summer is the 
saisoii inoj'te there, but they did not find it very hot, and 
enjoyed the profound solitude of the town and the roadways. 
Mary was full of pleasure at having the society of her mother. 
Mr. Hervey was as cordial and energetic as ever ; he and Philip 
were planning a little tour among the Lower Pyrenees on horse- 



TWO PAPAS. 



279 



back. Nearer home, Mr. Horner wrote of long hot days in New 
York, varied by little trips to Newport, where Miss Lejeune had 
now established herself. She was very good in writing long letters 




DASHING EQUIPAGES. 



to Bessie, describing the gayeties of the place, the fine clothes 
and the dashing equipages of the summer guests. 

"It is pretty good fun to be here," wrote Miss Lejeune. "The 
Stuyvesants are here, and (you need not read this to the twins) 



280 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



are very splendid in their Paris costumes. Miss S. is decidedly 
popular; I think she has just about little enough to say to suit 
a place of this sort. I meet them at the Casino, and we exchange 
a few words about the twins. It is evident that I know more 
what they are doing than their relatives do, but it is not 
worth while to spend much time in telling them about your 
Utopian pursuits, for the mother's eyes are wandering in search 
of new toilets, and the daughter's for fresh admirers. For my 

part, I wish I were 
out of it all, and 
gathering orchis 
with you, dear Bes- 
sie, but Mrs. Wise 
will not hear of my 
cutting short my 
visit." 

"So it would 
seem," mused Bes- 
sie, " that all of the 
rasiiily are greatly 
enjoying themselves 
except poor old Tom 
and me, while we 
are engaged in as- 
sisting Professor 
Bruce to instruct 
three cubs who have 
no sort of claim 
upon us." This 
strong way of put- 
ting the case made her laugh aloud, and the sight of a stately 
specimen of fringed orchis which she spied just before her, restored 
her '"ciuanimity at once. 




BESSIE'S FAVORITK Sl'OT. 



TWO PAPAS. 



281 



While she regained her equanimity she lost her equilibrium. A 
too hasty grasp at the orchis made her foot slip, and she found 
herself sitting on a flat stone, which was 
•dry, luckily, while her feet were both in 
the water. She persevered in gathering 
her orchis, and made the best of her way 
home with boots full of water. 

What a surprise ! Sitting on the door- 
steps, in comfortable chairs, and puffing- 
clouds of smoke before them, were her 
father and Mr. Stuyvesant, — good, jolly Mr. 
Stuyvesant, a little stouter and a shade 
grayer than when she saw him last. 
^' Dear papa! what a surprise!" she ex- 
claimed, springing forward. 

" Mr, Stuyvesant thought it was time to 
be looking after his boys," said her father, 
" and we took the train for Burlington 
yesterday. We telegraphed, and here is 
the message," he added, drawing a yellow 
envelope from his pocket. " Mr. Brick 
received it at the telegraph office at East 
Utopia just before our train came in." 

" That is the way we do things in the 
country, papa," said Bessie, smiling, as she 
took the telegram now more than twenty- 
four hours old, "but have you seen nobody ?" 

"We have seen that vivacious, hospitable and voluble being you 
call Lavinia Mary," replied her father, " and she informs us that 
every living soul is out, just as sure as you are born." 

"And I only came home early because I wet my feet, I am 
glad now I slipped into the brook ! " 

The joy of all the rest, as they arrived in groups, was great. 




THE FRINGED ORCHIS. 



282 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOWE. 



The professor and Mrs. Bruce appeared first, behind the- staid' 
Lucy whose jogging pace could not be hastened by the attractions- 
on the doorstep. Soon after AHce and Augustine appeared, with 
their arms full of plunder from the woods, and latest came the 
other three boys, with hair sleek and wet from a recent bath, 
and their towels stringing over their shoulders. Then all talked at 
once, and exclaimed and asked questions. 

When tea-time came, it appeared that Lavinia Mary and 
Belinda had outdone themselves in preparation. 

Mr. Stuyvesant was well pleased. 

" Madam," he said, " I hope you have another spare room, for 
I should like to engage board here for the rest of my life, and 
tuition as well from Dame Bessie," with a bow to the latter. 

But this was only a joke, for the gentlemen returned to New 
York the next day but one. 




Till, kill Ml roWKK AT .NiKWl'ORT. 



CONGRESS. 2^ 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



CONGRESS. 



THE first Wednesday in January, 1789, was named as the day 
for choosing the Presidential electors, the first Wednesday 
in February for the meeting of the electors, and the first Wednesday 
in March for the assembling of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives. This latter day happened, in the year 1798, to fall on 
the fourth of the month, and hence it was that three years later 
Congress decreed that each Presidential term should begin on the 
fourt'h of March next following the day on which the votes of 
the electors were cast. In obedience to this, the Presidents have 
ever since been sworn into office at noon, on the fourth of March, 
with the few exceptions when that day has fallen upon Sunday, 
and the times when, on account of the death of the President, the 
Vice-President has succeeded to the office out of the usual order 

of time. 

' To fix upon a date when the Constitution should become the 
law of the land was easier than to determine the place for the 
meeting of the officers of the Federal Government. Everybody 
agreed" that it should be central, and that "central" should be 
understood to mean the Middle States ; but these contained many 
large cities, and it was hard to say which had the best claim. 

Great advantages would come to the city where the national 
government was seated and the national treasures kept. New York, 
on many accounts, was the most suitable place, but there was 
great opposition to giving it these privileges, for the State of 
New York had been reticent and disloyal in all the difficulties of 



:284 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AliOUND HOME. 



the earlier Congress. Whenever the question came up, it was 
steadily resisted, but after a long time it was finally ordered that 
the new Congress should meet in New York, in the last session 
of the old, or Continental Congress, which held over till the new 
one was established. 

Great preparations were made in New York to receive the 
distinguished body. The previous Congress had occupied rooms in 




KECEIVINU UlbTlNtiUlSllKD GUESTS. 



the City Hall, but the buildinj;- was old and out of repair, and 
the rooms were thought to be too mean and shabby for the new 
one. The city was appealed to, but could do nothing, for its 
treasury was out of funds. Congress could do nothing, for the 
national coffers were empty. Some rich merchants took up the 



CONGRESS. 285 

matter, and soon over thirty thousand dollars were collected by 
subscription. An army of carpenters, masons, and plasterers were 
employed to re-model the City Hall completely. So extensive were 
the changes, that when the fourth of March came, the place was 
still in the hands of the workmen. It was re-named Federal 
Hall. The day was ushered in with solemn ceremonies. As the 
sun went down on the third, some guns at the battery fired a 
farewell salute to the old Confederation. When the first gray 
streaks of dawn appeared, on the morning of the fourth, and again 
at noon, and at six in the evening, salutes were fired, and the 
bells of all the churches in the city rang out a welcome to the 
Constitution under which the United States has, in the course of 
a hundred years, become one of the rich and prosperous nations 
of the world. 

However, on the morning of that day there were but eight 
Senators and thirteen Representatives in the city, and the New 
Government, from which so much was expected, could not go into 
operation. The distances were long, and, in those days, the roads 
were few and bad. Some of the delegates had pressing business 
to arrange, and could not leave home until it was settled. March 
was nearly over before the thirtieth representative arrived. There 
was now a quorum, and the House organized on the thirteenth of 
March ( 1789). But now a new delay arose. Nothing could be 
done till the Senate also had a quorum, and another week was 
impatiently passed in watching every stage-wagon that came to the 
city, and asking the name of every traveller. At last, on the 
morning of the sixth of April, a messenger knocked at the door 
of the House and informed the Speaker that the Senate was 
ready to count the electoral vote. The members hastened to the 
Senate Chamber, and the ballots were opened, read off, and 
recorded. The Houses then separated. When the Representatives 
were once more in their seats, the Speaker announced the result. 
George Washington had received sixty-nine, John Adams thirty- 



286 



A FAMILY FLIGHT ABOUND HOME. 



four votes. Thus were elected the first President and Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States. 




MKST I'KAVKK IN CUNUKKSb. 



The two Houses of Congress had their hands full of other busi- 
ness at once, and advice of all kinds was showered upon them, 



CONGRESS. 



287 



especially upon the subject of the importation of British goods. 
It was said that if the country was to prosper, it must spend less 
•on foreign goods, and learn to manufacture its own. It was 
plainly the duty of Congress to spare no pains to restrain impor- 
tation and encourage home manufacture. 

The advice was sound, and had begun already to be acted on by the 
people. In every great city so- s- . ^ -^ 

cieties for the encouragement of 
manufactures were flourishing. 
The members of the society in 
Delaware took a solemn pledge 
to appear on the first day of 
January, in each year, clothed 
in goods of American make. 

The result of such resolves 
was a speedy return to old 
habits of simplicity and frugality. 
Young women wore plain clothes, 
and made haste to surpass their 
mothers in skill at the spinning- 
wheel. Young men were not 
ashamed to be seen in homespun 
stockings and home-made jeans. 
Politicians found the surest way 
to win the hearts of their con- 
stituents was to appear dressed 
in American broadcloth. The 
town of Hartford presented Vice- 
President Adams, when he passed 

through on his way to be inaugurated, with a roll of cloth from its 
own looms, and Washington himself stood forth to take the oath 
-of office clad from head to foot in garments whose material was 
the product of American soil. 




WOOL SPINNMNC. 



288 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

The selection of New York as a place of meeting for the new 
Congress was considered only a temporary one, and the end of the 
first session was occupied with a long and sharp debate on the 
question of a prominent place for the general Government. Every 
one of the fifty-nine members of the House had something to say. 
It seemed impossible to agree in defining the force of the word 
" central," the members from each part of the country finding good 
reasons for proving their own largest city the nearest to the cen- 
tral point. It is now curious and interesting to observe how the 
wisdom of the best statesmen of that day has been turned to fool- 
ishness by a long series of events of which they did not dream. 
Vast stretches of territory have since been added to the States, 
thickly settled by millions of inhabitants. The centre of popula- 
lation near which their Federal city was to stand, has been 
steadily moving westward ever since the beginning of this century ; 
in ninety years, that centre, then thought so fixed that the per- 
manent seat of Government was to be placed near it, had moved 
westward nearly five hundred miles. 

This difficult matter was not settled until 1790, when an act 
was passed that certain territory on the River Potomac should be 
accepted for the permanent seat of Government. The same act 
provided that Congress should hold its sessions at Philadelphia until 
1800, when the Government should remove to the new district. 
This district was named in honor of Christopher Columbus, and 
also with reference to the name Columbia as a poetical designation 
for the country. There the city of Washington has grown up. 

" I think," said Hubert, " I do not clearly understand why they 
called everything ' Federal ' in those days." 

" It was a word which belonged naturally with the idea of a 
Confederation," explained Mr. Bruce; "in the dictionary I think 
you will find it defined ' belonging to a league or contract.' The 
patriots were leagued together to form the Constitution of the 
United States, and their success gave such glory to the word that 



CONGRESS. 291 

they liked to give it to patriotic things. As different political 
parties begun to arise in the new State, one of them claiming to 
be peculiarly friendly to the Constitution, and to the Federal govern- 
ment, that is, the Government formed by a league or agreement, 
called themselves Federalists, and they called their opponents the 
Republicans, anti-Federalists, charging them with a sort of hostility 
to the Constitution and the course taken by Government. The Re- 
publicans, however, denied the truth of these charges. But in the 
early times of the Republic, the word Federal meant much the 
same as National does now, as a term of patriotic praise." 

The word Federal \vas largely used. A dancing master advertised 
to teach the Federal minuet ; horses were put up at Federal stables ; 
a certain style of bonnet was named the Federal hat, and so on. 

One of the difficult matters for the first Congress to settle was 
the question of what the officers of Government, and members, should 
be paid. There was little discussion over what the President's 
salary should be. Washington, indeed plainly said, in his Inaugural 
Address, that he would take none. But the Constitution had de- 
clared that the President should have a salary, and it was not to 
be supposed that all Presidents would show the same patriotism 
as the first. Twenty-five thousand dollars a year was agreed upon ; 
the Vice-President was to receive five thousand a year ; it was 
then declared that the members of the Senate and House should 
receive six dollars a day, and the speaker twelve, for every day 
of the session. 

For such expenses, and many others, a full treasury was needed ; 
revenue must be had. The whole subject of raising money had 
to be dealt with, and all the complicated questions relating to 
taxation. It is wonderful how, from such small beginnings, the 
prosperity of the country, and the general wisdom of its rulers, has 
brought the poor little empty treasury of one hundred years ago 
to be overflowing, so that the difficulty now pressing upon Congress 
is to decide what to do with the surplus revenue. 



292 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



WASHINGTON S INAUGURATION. 



MANY of these things were not brought up in Congress until 
towards the end of the session of 1789. Meanwhile the 
inauguration of the President fell on the last day of April. 

Washington left his home at Mount Vernon on the sixteenth 
of the month, and came by the most direct road through Balti- 
more and Philadelphia to New York. The journey, in spite of the 
bad state of the roads at that time of the year, might have been 
made in five days, but he was much delayed by the hearty recep- 
tions given him along the entire route. He was feasted and enter- 
tained everywhere. When he reached Philadelphia a grand reception 
was prepared. 

The bridge over which he must cross the Schuylkill was hidden 
under cedars and laurel, flags and liberty-caps. Two triumphal 
arches were put up, and signals arranged to give warning of his 
coming. 

About noon on the twentieth, the President was seen riding 
.slowly down the hill, and under the first arch, where a laurel 
crown was let fall upon his head. The moment he entered the 
city limits the bells of all the churches were rung ; as he moved 
down Market street, every face seemed to say : " Long, long live 
George Washington ! " 

At Trenton a still more pleasing reception awaited him. On the 
bridge over which twelve years before he had led his little army 
on the night before the battle of Princeton, the women of Trenton 
had put up a triumphal arch. Thirteen columns supported it, 



WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION. 295 

surmounted by a great dome adorned with a sunflower, and the 
inscription,— " To thee alone." 

"Then it was not Oscar Wilde who invented the sunflower," re- 
marked Tom, interrupting the reading. 

«Do not be frivolous," said Bessie. "Go on, Ernest." Beyond 
the bridge was gathered a bevy of women and girls, who as the 
President passed under the dome, came forward to greet him, sing- 
ing, and strewing the way with flowers. 

Thus amid honors and salutes everywhere, Washington reached 
New York. He was received at the wharf by the Governor of 
New York, and by the Senators and Representatives, and escorted 
through lines of cheering citizens to the house made ready for his 
use. ''At night the sky was red with bonfires, and the streets full 
of an excited and joyous population. 

This was the twenty-third of the month. But as a few finishing 
touches were yet to be given to Federal Hall, the inauguration 
was put off till the thirtieth. On the morning of that day, the 
people went in crowds to the churches to offer up prayers for the 
welfare of the new Government and the safety of the President. 
At noon, a procession which had been forming almost since sun- 
rise moved from Washington's house to Federal Hall. As the 
head of the line reached the building, the troops divided, and 
Washington was led through them to the Senate Chamber, where 
both Houses were formally introduced to him. When the mem- 
bers were seated, and the noise had subsided, Adams, who had 
already been inaugurated as Vice-President, informed the President 
that the time had come for the administration of the oath of office. 
Washington rose, and followed by the members of the two Houses 
went out upon the balcony of Federal Hall, from which he could 
be seen far up and down the streets by the multitude that filled 
them The Chancellor of New York tendered the oath, and when 
the ceremony was over, turning toward the people cried out: 
"Long live George Washington, President of the United States! 



296 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



The Crowd took up the cry, and amid the joyous shouts of 
the citizens, and the roai of the cannon on the battery, Washington 
went back to the Senate Chamber and delivered his inaugural. 

In framing an answer to the President's speech, the difficulty 
arose how to address him. Committees were appointed, conferences 




EARLY NEW YORK. 



held, and complete disagreement resulted. Should he be called His 
Highness, or his High Mightiness? The question has been settled 
in favor of the term, " His Excellency," as suited to the simplicity 
belonging to a republic. 

While Congress was thus debating by what nam- the President 
should be called, Washington was troubled to know in what way 
he should behave. As he was the first of the long line of Presidents, 
he therefore had no precedents to guide him in matters of private 
and public etiquette. The place was one of great dignity, but 
just how much dignity was consistent with republican simplicity he 
did not know. It must be remembered that the stately etiquette 
of courts was then well understood to be a part of the dignity 
of Governments. Many of the people looked back with regret on 
the fine clothes, hosts of servants, the equipage and ceremonial of 



WASHINGTON'S INAUGUKA.TION. 297 

the royal Governors. These would gladly have seen the man whom 
they had raised to the chief place in the land, with a guard at 
his door, riding out followed by a train of menials, and would 
have gone on reception-days, with pride, through lines of liveried 
servants, to bow at the foot of some form of throne. But the 
anti-Federalists were bitterly opposed to all this, and begrudged 
him the fine house and furniture already given him by Congress. 
Washington therefore drew up a set of questions as to his offi- 
cial conduct, which he submitted to Hamilton and Adams. Should 
he keep open house for all guests.^ Would one day in the week 
be sufficient to receive visits of compliment ? What would be said 
if he were sometimes to be seen at quiet tea-parties.' When 
Congress adjourned, should he make a bow.? 

These matters were all settled, and it was announced in the 
newspapers that the President would receive on Tuesdays and 
Fridays. On Saturdays the President might sometimes be seen 
driving through the outskirts of the city, or mounted on a fine 
Virginia horse, or seated in his box at the theatre. 

On these occasions the "President's March" was always played. 
The air had a martial ring that caught the ear of the multitude. 
Later, Joseph Hopkinson wrote and adapted to it the well-known 
lines beginning "Hail Columbia," under which name, and not as 
the "President's March," it has become one of the most stirring 
of the national airs. 

Shortly after the Houses rose, the President set forth to show 
himself to the people of the Eastern States. He went through 
Connecticut, passed a few days at Boston, rode thence to New 
Hampshire, and came back by another route from that by which 
he went. Everywhere he was received with a great show of Fed- 
eral spirit. Bonfires were lighted, triumphal arches put up, feasts 
made ready, and odes written in his honor. The President re- 
turned to New York later in the fall, most favorably impressed 
with the state of feeling in New England. 



2!t8 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



At the time of Washington's tour, two stages and twelve horses- 
sufficed to carry all the travellers and goods passing between New 
York and Boston. These conveyances were old and shaky, the 
beasts were ill-fed and worn to skeletons. On summer-days the 
stages usually made forty miles, but in winter, when the snow 
was deep, and the darkness came on early in the afternoon, rarely 
more than twenty-five. In the hot months the traveller was op- 
pressed by heat and half choked with dust, while in cold weather 









is. 













'•<W 






vva.siiin(;ton on his tour. 



he could scarcely keep from freezing. One pair of horses usually 
dragged the stage some eighteen miles, when fresh ones were put 
in, and if no accident occurred, the traveller was put down at the 
inn about ten at night. Cramped and weary, he ate a frugal 
supper and betook himself to bed, to be called at three the next 



WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION. 299 

morning, then to rise, and make ready, by the light of a horn- 
lantern^ or a farthing candle for another ride of eighteen hours. 

John Adams, the first Vice-President, had been one of the fore- 
most of the patriots from the outbreak of the Revolution. He assisted 
in the framing of the Declaration of Independence, and was one 
of the ambassadors to make the treaty with France at the close 
of the Revolution; and in 1785 was sent as American minister to 
England, a difficult position for which he was well-fitted by nature 

and experience. 

He became the second President of the United States after 
Washington, who served two terms, or eight years, and declined 
a re-election for a third term. 

As they left the library one morning, the boys found Bessie in 
the hall, with the letters in her hand. She gave them to the 
several persons to whom they were addressed, and when she came 
to Tom, she said in a low tone: 

"I want to consult you about something. I have a letter from 

papa." 

- Come along, then, up the river," he replied. " There is a place 
where you have never been, Bess,- where the old road crosses the 

west branch." 

Alice looked as if she would like to be invited, but instead, 
Bessie turned to her, saying, " Then I think, Ahce, we will not 
have a painting lesson to-day. I want to talk to Tom." 

When they had pulled up a mile or more, and turned ofif into 
the smaller stream, Bessie rested her oars, while Tom merely kept 
the boat up against the slow current. 

"Papa." she began, "has to go to Boston about that business 
of Brown's; and he wants us to come to him there." 
"When?" asked Tom. 

-About the first of October," he says. "He suggests that we 
should make a little party of it, and 'do' Boston thoroughly. 
He thinks the Stuyvesants would like to have us keep the twins 



300 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



through October, as they will not leave Newport until late ; and 
he says we may bring Alice if we like." 

" How exactly like papa ! " exclaimed Tom. " Does he mention 
the professor and Mrs. Bruce ? Why not invite Billy Brick to 



; I 



join us 

Billy Brick was the black sheep of Utopia, one of those boys 
always out of employment and in some scrape. 




" Well, but, Tom, it is a good plan, and I am ready to leave 
here, are not you .■* " 

"Well, yes," said he, "though we have had a jolly summer." 

" It occurred to me," said Bessie, " that we might take one of the 
twins, only we should not agree which one it should be." 

"No; you would want your beloved Augustine," said Tom. 

"And you your henchman Ernest. But how about Alice.-'" 

"If you take anybody, take Lavinia Mary!" replied Tom jestingly. 

" O, Tom, do be serious ! " 



SOUR GRAPES. 301 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



SOUR GRAPES. 



IN diligent reading, hard study for tlie little boys, and hard 
work and play outdoors for all, the summer was going fast 
with the Utopians,— so fast that September was on the wane 
before they knew it. Days were growing short, and evenings 
long. Grasshoppers made their zzz-ing noise in the fields, and 
crickets chirped louder through the evening. 

The character of the flowers was wholly changed from that of 
the spring. Asters and golden-rod are made of stiffer material 
than the fragile anemone and columbine; more capable of existing 
through short days and cool nights. Bessie and Augustine had 
their hands full when they undertook to analyze and classify the 
great number of varieties they found of the aster tribe, the dis- 
dnctions of which are very slight and hard to detect. In fact, it 
was so puzzling that Augustine lost his interest, and Bessie could 
not persuade him to care whether a specimen was a ptarmicoidcs 
or an acuminaUcs. But he gathered them all the same, and 
Alice arranged them. 

"If you bring them with stems as long as their names, it is 

all I shall ask," she said. 

-Come over to the orchard," said Hubert one day; "I met 
Billy Brick's brother at the well just now, and he says the ground 
is covered with apples that blew off last night." 

Hubert was bringing a pail of water from the well to fill up 
Alice's flower-vases. Lessons were over for the day, and there 
was no especial plan laid out for the interval before dinner. 



302 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



" All right," said Tom, who was sunning himself in the doorway, 
with his hands in his pockets. It was really cold. The night 
had been rainy, and the weather had cleared off in the morning, 

sharp and bright, 
with a piercing wind 
that blew the leaves 
off the trees and 
hustled them over the 
ground, while the 
sky was intensely 
blue, and the sun- 
light sparkling. 

" Let us make the 
girls go too," he 
continued. " Bessie ! " 
This was shouted up 
to her window from 
the outside of the 
house. The window, 
for a wonder, was shut. Tom threw a well-aimed pebble against 
the pane, and this caused it to be opened, when Bessie's head 
-appeared. 

" Come out for a walk," said Tom, " it is splendid out-doors, 
and too cold to stay in the house." 

" It is cold as Greenland," replied Bessie, " so I had to shut 
the window. I will ask Alice." 

Alice had just begun to draw her ginger pot full of asters, but 
she willingly put up her things, saying her hands were too stiff 
with cold for good work ; and the two girls soon came down, Bes- 
sie buttoning herself into a thick jacket as she ran quickly down 
the stairs. 

"Don't wear that!" cried Tom, "you will roast if you do, as soon 
.as you begin to walk." 




lilLLV URICKS liROTHKK 



SOUR GRArES. 



303 



.<My dress is too thm for this weather," she rephed. «' I can 
take it off if it is too warm. Where are the twins." 

.'Yes, where are they .^ " asked Tom. "No matter, though., we 

can go without them." 

"They darted off," said Hubert, "the minute school was over. 
Do not you know they did yesterday too, and we saw nothmg of 

them all day.'" . 

..Where can they be?" said Bessie; "Ernest, Augustme ! 
«Oh, let them alone!" said Tom; "they are old enough to take 

cave of themselves." 

.'Well, but it is so mysterious," persisted Bessie. "I am afraid 

that 'Satan' has found 
' some mischief ' for them 

to do." 

" ERNEST ! " shouted 
Tom at the top of his 
lungs, and Hubert imitated 
him with an appeal for 
" Augustine ! " 

These yells brought La- 
vinia Mary round the cor- 
ner of the house, who 
said, "You needn't be 
hollering and bellering 
for them twins, Mr. Tom, 
for Belinda see them 
p-oing up the wood-road 
the minute you was done 
school. They came and grabbed hot gingerbread, and was out 

through the back door." tj u <. 

.<Hot gingerbread! We will have some too," said Huber 
This favorite luncheon-cake put the thought of the boys out of all 
their heads, and they started along without them towards the orchard. 




AN ARKANGEMFN-r HY ALICK. 



304 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AEOUND HOME. 



This was an old overgrown place, which had once been a flour- 
ishing orchard, connected with a house long ago deserted and 
fallen into ruin ; nothing but the cellar, dug into the ground and 
built of rough stones, remained. Weeds and nettles had sprung 
up within, and brambles and blackberry vines nearly hid the old 
wall. The neglected apple-trees were all run out, and bore no 

fruit that was worth 

--'-'- -'""-"I much ; long untrimmed 

shoots had pushed up- 
ward from the branches, 
wasting the vigor of 
the trees. As the place 
belonged to nobody in 
particular, it was no- 
body's business to care 
for the fruit, and all 
the boys in the neigh- 
borhood felt at liberty 
to help themselves. On 
a plentiful year, like 
the present, the old 
trees blossomed full)- in 
spite of old age and 
want of care, and the 
apples they bore, al- 
though not handsome 
nor large, had a wild, 
Bohemian sort of flavor, 
attractive, like all undisciplined things. Moreover, the trees stood 
on a southern slope, warm and sunny on an autumn day, with a 
pretty view off towards the winding river. 

"Mushrooms!" cried Alice. "Just the day for them!" and she 
picked a shiny wliite ball, with pink folds on the under side. 




IIIK OKUIAKD. 



SOUR GRAPES. 305 

*'Ho\v do you know the good ones from toad-stools?" asked 
Bessie, who had never gathered mushrooms before. Alice explained 
to her the difference in shape and smell and color. 

"Besides," she said, "they always grow in a pasture like this, 
and other kinds do not, except," she added, '*that hateful puff," 
illustrating her words by kicking contemptuously a brownish puff- 
ball whose fault was not being a mushroom. 

Soon they were all searching for mushrooms. They are likely 
to be found almost anywhere in New England in fields and pas- 
tures after a rain ; and freshly gathered, and skilfully cooked with 
salt, pepper, and a little cream, are delicious. 

Bessie's jacket had to come off, for it was warm enough, and too 
warm in the sun ; so that by the time they reached the orchard, 
the shade was welcome of the old trees. They were by no means 
the first to enjoy the harvest. Two boys came towards them with a 
bushel basket well heaped with apples they had picked up or 
knocked down from the trees. A smaller boy followed. 

"Hallo, Billy Brick!" cried Hubert. "Have you left any for us ?" 

" Plenty," replied these boys. " But you had better look out for 
the bull up there ! " 

"The bull!" exclaimed the two girls, coming to a full stop. 

"He ain't there now, but he is sometimes," said the boys. "He 
comes over the fence from Jones' pasture when he feels like it." 

" Let us go back ! " said Alice. 

"Oh, come along," cried Tom, "these boys only said it to 
frighten you." The boys were running off as fast as their legs, 
and the weight of their heavy baskets, would allow. 

The Horners had no basket with them, as their intention was 
simply to try the apples, and refresh themselves while they rested 
under the trees. While they were thus reposing, and taking a 
bite here and there from the sunny sides of different apples, 
Alice showed them how to peel the mushrooms, and persuaded 
Bessie to taste one, just as it was, uncooked. 



306 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



" What an odd taste," said Bessie. '• It is good, though ; it seems 
like a pure essence of earth." 

" Now, Alice, if you have given us the wrong things to eat, we 
shall all be poisoned," said Tom. 

" Never fear," she replied, " I have known mushrooms all my 
life." 

As they sat, apparently tranquil, leaning against the crooked 
trunks of the old trees, after the two boys had gathered a little 







-r^ti';¥''l^f'^fXc^^ 





r 






EARLY APPLES. 



heap of apples, which lay between them, each of the girls was 
secretly a little anxious about the bull, though neither would men- 
tion it for fear of being laughed at by their braver companions. 
They had all been silent a little while, looking off on the sunny 
fields in the distance through which the river wound its way. 
Suddenly, from behind the tumble-down stone wall near them, there 
was heard a crackling of dried sticks, and then the unmistakable 
bellow of an animal of the bull species. Without stopping to look 
behind them, the girls started and ran, dropping mushrooms, apples, 



SOUR GRAPES. 



307 






and Bessie's jacket. They never paused till they reached the bot- 
tom of the hill, in spite of shouts from the boys telling them to 
come back. 

Perhaps the boys would have liked to run too, but as this was 
not the manly part, they paused, though starting to their feet, to 
await some renewal 
of the noise. As 
none came, they cau- 
tiously approached 
the stone wall and 
looked over. 

The only live thing 
to be seen was a red 
cow standing in a 
sort of tangle of 
bushes and briars. 
She had apparently 
squeezed herself into 
a place she did not 
like, for when she 
perceived the two 
boys she opened her 
mouth and produced 
a precise repetition 
of the fearful sound 
which had so alarmed 
them just before. 

The boys burst out 
laughing, 

" See those wild 
grapes ! " exclaimed Hubert, in almost the same minute. " I won- 
der if they are ripe ! " 

He began to climb the wall after them, while Tom went back 




SOUR GRAPES. 



808 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



to reassure the girls, if possible. They were far down the hill, 
and still running. In vain he shouted after them, " Bessie ! Alice ! 
It was nothing but an old cow ! " They did not turn round ; prob- 
ably they did not hear him. There was nothing for him to do but 
to pick up jacket, mushrooms and apples, and follow them, which he 
did in a frame of mind not altogether amiable. 

He overtook the girls at the foot of the hill, for they had 
slackened their pace as soon as they thought themselves out of danger. 
Tom's wrath ceased after he had scolded them for their cowardice, 
and they all walked home together. 

Hubert, meantime, scrambled through the tangled bushes on the 
cow's side of the wall, and reached home by a different route, 
about the same time the others did. He reported, however, that 
the grapes were sour. 




VIGNETTE. 



A CATASTROPHE. 309 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



A CATASTROPHE. 



THE summer was really over, and October was drawing near, 
when the children arrived in their reading and talks at the 
point of American history where Washington was inaugurated as 
first President of the United States, on the thirtieth of April, 1789. 

Here Professor Bruce decided it was best to stop, after consult- 
ing Bessie, whose interest in the subject was as great, and whose 
judgment he kindly considered as good as his own. 

" We have gone over a good deal of ground, you see," he said, 
as he walked up and down the library, " and as much as young- 
heads can well receive. Another time it would be satisfactory to 
take up the story of the youngest nation, and follow the first 
Presidents through the difficulties of their administrations, examine 
the causes of the War of 18 12, watch the growing extent and 
prosperity of the country, and rising differences between North and 
South which led to the Civil War. But let that be," he continued, 
"for another year, when I hope I may see you all here again, my 
dear Miss Bessie, for, indeed, I shall be sorry to part with my 
charming group of young friends." 

Bessie smiled, and said, " You have made us all so happy, dear 
professor, that it will seem very strange to go away and lose the 
associations of this ' place. How well the summer has turned out 
for all of us ! " 

Accordingly McMasters, and Oilman, and the other books of 
American authority, were put back upon their shelves, and the 
reading for the rest of the time was devoted to learning something 
•of the condition of Continental Europe at the time that the new 



310 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 



government brought repose to the American nation, — enjoyable to alL 
In England, in 1789, George the Third was still on the throne». 
and consoling himself as best he might for the loss of his Ameri- 
can colonies. The London public were not yet tired of amusing 
themselves with two new plays, TJie Rivals, and The School for 
Scandal, by a young man named Sheridan, which held the stage 
at the two theatres of London, Covent Garden and Drury Lane. 

In France, in 1789, the first murmurs of the Revolution were 
making themselves heard. It was in this year, on the fourteenth- 




's^ 



SUMMER WAS OVER, 



of July, that a wild army of the populace attacked and destroyed 
the Bastille. 

In Austria, Maria Theresa the Empress, was dead since 1780. 
Her son, Joseph the Second, was on the throne, full of good wishes 
meditating schemes of reform. The great enemy of his house, 
Frederick the Great, had died in 1786, an old man who survived 
most of those who had shared his triumphs and defeats. His mind 



A CATASTROPHE. 311 



in 




remained active to the last, and he never lost his interest 
affairs of State. He was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick 
William the Second, who was reigning in Prussia in 1789. 

In Spain, in 1789, Charles the Fourth was on the throne, the 
weak and pitiful grandson of Philip the Fifth, who 
afterward played so mean a part toward his coun- 
try at the dictates of Napoleon. 

The frightful convulsions were still to come of 
the French Reign of Terror; and Napoleon, in 
1789, was, as yet, unheard of in the annals of ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ 

Europe. 

The end of September was wet, with frequent rains, clearing off 
at intervals with cold, windy weather, which settled back again 
into a chilly drizzle. 

"Summer is over, I think," said Bessie, as she shivered over the 

stove one morning. 

" It is very often like this in the end of September," said Mrs. 
Bruce, "and then we have mild, soft weather again. October is a 
lovely month here. I know you will enjoy it." 

" I am sure we shall," replied Bessie, but in her secret heart 
she was thinking that they had had about enough of the country, 
and that it was time to be making some decision about the Bos- 
ton visit and their return to New York. She longed to see her 
father and Miss Lejeune, also to see shops and pretty autumn 
clothes, and even to visit Huylers and refresh herself with a pound 

of candy. 

"Come, Alice, let us go for a walk, instead of baking before 
the stove," she said, and they started off, returning in an hour 
much blown and draggled, but with their arms full of long trails 
of clematis gone to seed, covered with bunches of the pretty 
feathery seed-vessels, besides bright streamers of Virginia creeper 
which had already turned scarlet. 

"Here is autumn for you!" they called out as they entered 



312 A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 

the house. " Now we are going to decorate the sitting-room." 
"Where is Augustine.?" asked Alice; "he will get the steps for 
us to fasten this round the cornice." 

"Where is Augustine.?" repeated Bessie. "I am worried about 
the twins ; they are always off by themselves now." 

" I think they have taken to playing with Billy Brick," replied 
Alice; "I see them together a good deal." 

"The fact is, Tom and Hubert are tired of them," said Bessie. 
"I must speak to Tom about it; if the twins are left to themselves 
they are sure to get into some scrape." 

This remark was thought of afterwards as prophetic, for the 
words were hardly out of her mouth, than Bessie, who was near 
the open door, saw Augustine alone, running with all his might 
towards the house. 

"Where's Tom?" he called out, panting. "Oh, come, every- 
body! " 

"Land's sakes! what is the matter.?" exclaimed Lavinia Mary, 
appearing at that moment. 

"O, Bessie!" he continued, seizing her by both hands, "the 
House is burnt up ! " 

"The House! our House! what do you mean!" exclaimed 
Bessie, giving him a shake in her amazement. 

"I don't know, — we don't know how it happened," and here he 
began to cry. "We went there and went in, and it is all 
black and dreadful." 

"How could you go in if it is burnt down.?" said Bessie sternly. 

"I said burnt up! Boo-hoo ! " sobbed Augustine, and delivered 
himself up to loud grief. 

Bessie was wild with impatience. " Do tell us what you mean. 
Is Tom there? Where's Hubert?" 

"No-oo! I don't know," bellowed Augustine. "Billy Brick and 
Ernest are there. They made mc come and tell you!" 

" I see Master Tom and Hubert, Miss, a-going down in the other 




CLEMATIS AND CREEPER. 



A CATASTKOPHE. 



315.- 



direction. I think they were going over the mountain to meet the 
mail," interposed Lavinia Mary. 

"Come, Alice, we must go up to the House," said Bessie, " and 
see what this is all about. Come, Augustine." 

" I don't mind if I step and meet the young gents," said La- 
vinia Mary, whose curiosity was aroused. "But I'll lock up front 
and rear, as there's 
no soul in the house, 
except the cat," she 
added as she walked 
off to her seat, " and 
she don't count." 

The professor and 
his wife were away 
for the day. 

As they hurried 
along the way to 
the upper end of 
the pond, Bessie suc- 
ceeded in extracting 
more light from Au- 
gustine. It appeared 
that the twins, in 

company with their new acquaintance. Billy Brick, had taken up 
the habit of going by themselves to the House for amusement. 
Nobody thought of forbidding them, for the key of the House 
was in Tom's pocket ; and it was taken for granted that he had 
the control of the premises. Something clandestine about climbing 
in by the window, a perfectly easy feat, made the whole charm of 
the practice, apparently, for there was nothing particular to do inside. 
"Only," said Augustine, whose compassion came out in jerks, 
"the last time, we thought it would be good fun to roast some 
corn." 




THE POND. 



516 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"In the House!" ejaculated Bessie. 

"No; in your kitchen." This was the place where a sort of 
fireplace had been arranged to boil the kettle. 

"We roasted it, and then we went back inside to eat it, and we 
played we were pirates." 

"Where did you get the corn.?" demanded Bessie sternly. 

" In Farmer Mar- 
tin's second field. It's 
ripe there." 

"Did you ask his 
leave .'' " 

"No. Billy Brick 
said we had better 
not." 

Bessie groaned. 
"Well, go on." 

They reached the 
premises, however, be- 
fore his story was fin- 
ished, where they 
found Ernest sitting 
on the ledge of the 
window with his legs 
hanging out, alone, 
Billy Brick having 
fled. 

The House indeed 
was standing, but on 
looking iu; the girls 
perceived that the interior was all charred and blackened, a large 
hole burned through the floor, pictures and everything of a slight- 
nature destroyed, while Alice's curtains, scorched to tinder, hung in 
shreds and tatters. 




I.AVrNTA MARV. 



A CATASTROPHE. 317 

The boys explained that this feast of stolen corn had taken 
place two days before. The afternoon had been chill and cloudy^ 
and they recollected that as they were coming home it had be^-un 
to rain. It poured sheets during the night, and rained steadily all 
the next day, to which circumstance was owing the preservation 
of the House, and also of the woods around it. 

" You naughty little boys ! " said Bessie. '* You might have de- 
stroyed the whole of these woods." 

Meanwhile, Tom and Hubert, on their way back from East 
Utopia, were amazed to see Lavinia Mary blowing along the 
road, against the sunset light, toward them. 

She announced the disaster, and they started on the run for 
the scene of it, so that while Bessie was still holding her inquisition, 
they arrived. The door was unlocked, a careful search made, and 
sure enough, the round top of a wooden box of matches was 
found, which, having rolled off under the flooring, was not burned 
up, and remained to tell the tale. 

"So you had a box of matches.''" remarked Tom dryly. 

Ernest started, and felt in his pocket. " Yes ; they are gone. 
I must have left them here." 

"And stepped on them, probably, just before leaving," said Tom, 
still more severely. "Well, come on, it is done now." 

He shoved the boys out of the House, and with a bitter laugh, 
turned the key once more in the door. Tom was so angry he 
did not trust himself to speak. Hubert, bursting with wrath, fol- 
lowed his chief's example. Silently, they all turned homeward. 
The little boys, on arriving at the bars where the road began, 
started to run on ahead. 

"None of that!" commanded Tom. "Walk behind us." And 
so they did. Not a word was spoken by any of the party. 



318 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



LAST DAYS AT UTOPIA. 



IT was well that the catastrophe of the burning of the House 
took place so late in the summer, for the breaking up of the 
Utopia party gave a ready solution to the question, What to do 
about it .'' 

Tom expended his displeasure by a full account of the matter 
contained in a long letter to his father. He was not, perhaps, 
wholly surprised to receive in the answer strong reproof to him- 
self for his want of attention to the boys who had been in a 
tneasure placed in his charge. Tom was half inclined to resent, 
half inclined to acknowledge its justice. 

This letter of Mr. Horner's was immediately followed by another 
to Bessie, further unfolding plans for a fortnight in Boston, and 
the discussion of these plans occupied all minds. 

Professor Bruce was obliged to go to New York on business, 
and offered to t' e with him the Stuyvesant boys. Tom, who 
was tired of the ight, and longed to see the last of them, re- 
joiced at the proj osal, but Bessie thought kindness and politeness 
required that they should be asked to join the Boston trip, as it 
came within the time which they had been expected to spend in 
Vermont. Their mother and sister were to stay at Newport till 
the fifteenth of October or later, and there was no place for the 
boys to go. Tom yielded with reluctance to Bessie's view, but 
he and Hubert were relieved when Ernest promptly declined the 
invitation. 

"I'm tired of improving my mind!" he exclaimed sullenly when 



LAST DAYS AT UTOPIA. 



319 




\^us ^-^^^ 



LAST DAYS. 



the project was explained. " I want to go home. I don't want 
to know any more about the Revolution. I have not had any 
soda water all summer." 

This was true, although the statement appeared to have but little 
connection with the subject in hand. 

There was complete silence after he said this. Tom went on 
whittling a stick ; Hubert pulled the cat's tail, and Bessie even 
did not dare to ex- 
press common place 
regrets at E r n e s t's 
dec ision. Augustine 
made no remark on 
either side of the 
question. He looked 
out of the window, 
and fidgeted with the 
curtain tassel. The 
position of the twins had been uncomfortable for the last days ; 
they felt themselves to be tolerated, but not desired by the others. 

The situation was relieved by the entrance of Alice, who came 
in breathless at the front door, saying : 

" Mamma says I may go to Boston ! She says it is very kind 
in you to ask me, only I have not a prop;f/5 dress for autumn, 
but she says perhaps we can buy it there." a 

While Bessie assured her that this could r be easily affected, 
Ernest slipped out of the room. 

"Then I suppose it is all settled," said Tom. " Come, Hubert, 
let us go off up the river." 

Thus Augustine was left with the two girls, and Bessie, with a 
significant glance at Alice, went over and sat by the window where 
he was standing. Alice picked up the cat and ran out of the 
room. 

"Augustine," said Bessie, "I think you had better go with us 



320 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AKOUND HOME. 



to Boston. I hope you will. Papa says there need be no limit 

to the party, and you know you are not 'sick of the Revolution'!" 

"No, I am not," said Augustine in a low tone, "but — but" — 

"Well," said Bessie kindly, and with a smile, "but what?" 

" You all hate us," he broke out, " and you want to get rid 

of us ; and it was not my fault, but you never give me a chance 

to tell about Billy Brick ! " 

He spoke violently now, his face grew red, and he was on the 
point of crying. 

" We do not hate you, and we do not think it was all your 
fault, and we do not want to hear about Billy Brick," said Bessie 

firmly and quietly. " We 
all feel sorry about the 
burning of the House, 
but Tom and I think it 
was partly our fault too. 
It does no good discuss- 
ing it, and laying the 
blame about on different 
people, and so we do not 
like to talk about it. I 
think the best thing for 
you to do, Augu.stine, is 
to go with us, and show 
how nice and pleasant 
uiE iiuubi. cvi. and intelligent you really 

are, and so make everybody forget about the House." 

Augustine had pulled out a not very creditable pocket handker- 
chief and had begun to bite the corner of it. 
"Ernest won't go," he said gloomily. 

"Well," said Bessie, "that makes it all the easier; if he really 
does not wish to go, and prefers to return to New York with 
Mr. Bruce, there is nothing to prevent your going with us." 




LAST DAYS AT UTOPIA. 



321 



"But we are twins!" said Augustine, with a kind of stare. The 
two boys had never been separated. 

" You are not Siamese ! " said Bessie, laughing gayly ; " there 
is no law, either, to compel you to stay together." 

"But you do not want me, you only" — said Augustine, begin- 
ning to whine again. 

Bessie looked annoyed. " Come, Augustine, I should not invite 
you if I did not wish 
you to come with us. 
As for Tom, he told 
me I had better ask 
you ; and it is for you 
to win his friendship 
and Hubert's by being- 
nice. Do not you 
think that is more 
manly than running 
away from us.-*" 

Thus it was settled. ^^,^ ,, , .,., 
Bessie's greater work ^'$M/;, if// .C 
was persuading Tom 
and Hubert to relax 
from their sternness 
toward Augustine. Er- 
nest departed for New 
York with Mr. Bruce, 
rejoicing, with some bravado, in the prospect of staying at the 
Fifth Avenue Hotel with his father till the ladies of his family 
came to town. It was inferred, however, by his letters to Augus- 
tine, that his reception by Mr. Stuyvesant was not altogether sat- 
isfactory, since Mr. Horner had felt obliged to communicate to 
that gentleman the escapade of the House-burning. 

As time passed on, all the children felt they had attached too 




MISS LEIEUNE AGAIN. 



322 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

much importance to what, after all, was an accident, and one 
which might have been much worse. In looking back upon the 
summer at Utopia, all unpleasant features were forgotten, and each 
individual of the party will regard it as one of the pleasantest 
periods of his life. The good professor and Mrs. Bruce keep up 
a lively interest in the children, and are always hoping for an- 
other summer just like this one. 

Meanwhile, Miss Lejeune devoted herself to working up the Bos- 
ton plan. She wrote to Bessie : 

Everything is arranged. I have invented a new cousin for you, who is the one in- 
gredient wanting in our combination, as Mrs. Sherwood says about pepper and salt, on 
cantelope melons. Do you remember your aunt Turner ? Dear me, of course you do 
not; she died before you were born. Besides, she was not your aunt, any more than 
I am, nor half so much, because she was not so agreeable. Her son is in a baniiing 
house in Boston ; he inherits his father's passion for genealogy and numismatics, history, 
ancient and modern. The children here think him a prig and a bore; he does turn 
out his feet rather too much, and I wish he would not say "marm" to me quite so 
often. Still, he would be invaluable as a guide and escort, and was immensely pleased 
when I invited him, as I made bold to do, to join us all at the Vendome, and help 
you to do Boston. He is all ready to "call cousins" with you Homers, and will e.xplain 
to you, root and branch, where he comes in on the Horner tree. It seems there was 
a Plorner who married a Turner, — but I will spare you till you meet him. 

Tom and Hubert groaned at the picture. " Oh, why did she 
thrust him upon us!" cried Tom; "that is exactly like aunt Dut, 
— she always wants to have an extra man around." 

"Oh, well," replied Bessie cheerfully, "in that case, she will take 
care of him herself; and we need not trouble ourselves about him 
except to tap him for information whenever we need it." 

The work of packing went on. Mr. Brick and his wagons were 
summoned from East Utopia. Poor Mrs. Bruce was to be left all 
alone, for Belinda and Lavinia Mary were to retire like bears 
and turtles to hibernate, after the summer work was ended. 

" Land sakes ! " exclaimed the latter, as she ran backward and 
forward, with her apron tied round her head. "Just to think, the 



LAST DAYS AT UTOriA. 



32J 



summer is over so quick, vvhien it ain't mor'n half begun. Them 
chickens shows it, though ; sh ! sh ! They was eggs when you 
come, Miss Bessie. Sh ! sh ! " she continued, addressing this part 
of the sentence to a number of well-grown fowls. 

The travellers climbed into the great wagon, the packages were 
put under the seats. Alice leaned forward and waved her hand- 
kerchief to her mother, who could be discerned at the window of 
her sitting-room, in the distant house. 

The four young people made a merry journey through Vermont, 
passing Rutland, Bellows Falls and Keene, and crossing Massachu- 
setts, reached Boston, after dark, of the short October day. The 
foliage all along the route was superb, the brilliant reds and yel- 
lows of maple and birch contrasting with the still unchanged 
dark green of the oaks. 

Mr. Horner met them at the station, and at the Vendome 
they found, just arrived and awaiting them. Miss Lejeune. After 
dinner, for he could not come sooner, they were joined by Mr. 
Turner, who was now presented to his new cousins, and as they 
sat over their coffee and dessert, enhanced by the addition of 
bright red apples from Utopia, they allowed their guest to mount 
his hobby, by turning the subject to the landmarks of Boston. 

It was wet and drizzling, but not unpromising for the morrow. 




APPLES FROM UTOPIA. 



324 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



THE FIRST DAY IN BOSTON. 



YOU see," said Mr. Turner, who was a little conceited as to 
the merits of his " poking about " in one and another cor- 
ner, "you see, the absolute original landmarks of Boston are gone, 
or as much altered as they could be. When the first people came 
here, old John Blackstone, and even Winthrop and Dudley, of 
course it was not called Boston. It was called Trimountain, or 
Tremont, I suppose by the people in the fishing ships, because at 
the top of Beacon Hill there were three hummocks, like this," — and 
the speaker cut a bit of bread into the shape he meant, — " two 
protuberances in the side of a hill a little higher." 

" Oh, yes ! Fort Hill, and Copp's Hill, and Beacon Hill," said 
Bessie, not unwilling to show that she also knew something. 

" Not quite yet. Miss Bessie," said Mr. Turner, modestly enough. 
" Most people think so. And I think most Boston people would 
tell you so, but they would be wrong. The three hummocks were 
all on Beacon Hill, — that's where the State House is now. Oddly 
enough, they are all gone. They dug down the highest, where the 
beacon was, part of it when they built the State House, and the 
rest afterward, to fill up the old mill pond. And the others were 
so steep that they had to be dug down for streets. But when I 
take you to the State House, and over Mount Vernon and Som- 
erset streets, you will have tramped over them all. 

" I really think, Miss Lejeune," he added, " that at least the 
boys had better go to the top of the State House with me, first 
of all. You know Dean Stanley did." 



THE FIRST DAY IN BOSTON. 



325 



It is true that when Doctor Stanley came to Boston, true to 
the principles of Arnold's school of history, he wished, first of all, 
to understand the precise topography of all he was to see. His 
first visit, therefore, was to the 
top of the State House, and his 
last, after his short stay, was to 
the same observatory, that he 
might be sure he had rightly 
placed all that he had seen. 

In our case it need not be 
said that all the children shouted 
at the idea of Miss Lejeune's 
consenting to climb two hundred 
and twenty stairs, more or less, 
for the sake of instruction or 
amusement ; but while she took 
Alice with her for some shopping, 
at the request of Alice's mother, 
while Mr. Horner went down 
town upon business, Mr. Turner 
was permitted, to his solid satis- 
faction, to take the young people 
to the top of the State House, 
to the Common, and anywhere 
else he chose. " And we will 
get our lunch where we do our 
Avork," he said. 

"Cousin Nathan," said his new 
friend Bessie, — who was no more his cousin than you are, as 
you already know, but after learning the genealogy of the families 
Bessie concluded to call him such, — " be sure that I see a ship, 
a real three-master, before we go away. Steamships I don't care 
ior." And he promised. 




BOSTON COMMON. 



326 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

Bessie had crossed the ocean in a steamer, ascended the Nile 
in a dahabieh, and passed over a part of the Gulf of Lyons in 
a clumsy boat with a lateen-sail, but she had never seen, except 
afar off from the deck of a Cunarder, any of the three-masted 
schooners which ply between Boston and the coast of Maine. 

A street car brought the party to the head of Winter street,. 
and here Nathan brought them out of it upon what he called the 
Lower Mall, on the eastern side of Boston Common. Here he put 
the girls upon a seat, while the boys grouped around him, and 
with his stick, he drew a rough map on the ground. 

" We may get parted from each other. But if any one is lost 
while you are in Boston, the streets are just as easy to under- 
stand as those of Philadelphia or Chicago, after you once know 
the law of the instrument. 

" This hill we are on is the east slope of Beacon Hill. If we 
had followed in the car we could have ridden it to Cambridge, in 
this open horseshoe which I draw. 

" North of us, quite at the north of the town, is Copp's Hill. 
We will see that another day. The streets around that are in 
curves also. 

" Off here on the southeast was Fort Hill. The streets there 
bent to follow the curve. But that is all dug down. 

" Then, of course, in a seaboard town, from every wharf or pier, 
there ran up streets into the town. If you took a fan, and put 
the centre at the Post Office Square, the sticks would be Water 
street, Milk street, Pearl street, Federal street, and so on. Now 
all this is just as much according to rule as if you made a 
checker-board. Only you must know what the rule is." 

"I think it is a great deal nicer," said Bessie. 

"The rule in practice is said to be, Find out where the place 
is to which you go, and take a horse car running the other way." 

" Is it, really ? " asked Hubert, still literal, although he had been 
so lone: with Americans. 



THE FIRST DAY IN BOSTON. 



327 



" No. That is a joke," said Bessie. 

"Now we will go up to the State House." So they slowly 
pulled up the Park Street walk, up the high steps between the 
two bronze statues, stopped in the Doric Hall to see the statues 
and the battle flags, and then slowly mounted the long stairways 




THE ST.A.TE HOUSE, BEACON STREET. 

which led to the "lantern" above the dome. Fortunately the 
Legislature was not sitting. When the House is in session visits 
to the lantern are not permitted, lest the trampling on the stairs 
above the Representatives' Hall might disturb the hearers. 

When they had regained their breath, they looked round on the mag- 
nificent panorama which sweeps a circle of forty miles in diam- 



828 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

eter, and Nathan lectured. His lecture must not be reported here 
in detail. But the main points of it shall be stated, because they 
give the clew to the expeditions which the party made after- 
wards. 

They were so high that all the rest of the city was quite be- 
low them. Nathan was able to point out almost in a group, 
Faneuil Hall, the Old State House, and the Old South Meeting 
House of Revolutionary times. 

"We will do those," he said, "to-morrow, and then you can see 
where the tea was thrown over, and the scene of the Boston 
Massacre. That will be a good Revolutionary day." 

To the north, with a strip of water between, so narrow, and 
bridged so often that it hardly seemed a deep river, half a mile 
wide, was the monument on Bunker Hill. The summit was the 
only point near them as high as they were. We will go there, 
perhaps," said Nathan, "day after to-morrow. And that same day 
we can see Copp's Hill, which is the north headland of Old Bos- 
ton, and we can go to the Navy Yard, and Bessie shall see her 
ship with three masts. , 

" Saturday, — I don't know what Mr. Horner will say, — but I 
vote that we go down the harbor. We will see Nahant, which is 
a rocky peninsula ten miles northeast, or Hull, which is about as 
far southeast; they make the headlands of Boston Bay." And he 
tried to make out both these points. He did show them the outer 
light-house and the great forts between. Bessie, Tom and Hu- 
bert were delighted with their first view of Boston Harbor. 

" Then Sunday," continued Nathan, calculating his scheme pru- 
dently, " some of us can go to Christ Church, where the sexton 
showed the lantern." 

"And can not we see the churcli with the cannon ball? "asked 
Hubert. 

Which bears on her bosom as a bride might do, 
The iron breastpin that the rebels threw. 



THE FIRST DAY IN BOSTON. 329 

"No," said Mr. Turner sadly. "We were barbarians, and pulled 
that church down." And he added savagely, "And no good came 
to the society that did it. 

" That will leave next week for a good tramp over Dorchester 
Heights, and another day, if you are not tired, we will go to Cam- 
bridge, and see Harvard College." 

" Hubert," said Bessie, aside, " how did you come to be quoting 
poetry, — or is it original.''" 

" No," replied Hubert, " it is Doctor Holmes'. Miss Augusta 
showed it to me, in a book, this morning." 

Meantime, Nathan Turner was showing how high the Dorches- 
ter Heights, now in South Boston, rose, and how completely they 
commanded the harbor ; so that when Washington seized them 
the English army and navy had to go. He also showed them 
Cambridge and the college buildings, lying quite near them, west- 
ward, but on the other side of the Charles River. 

The party spent a long time in the cupola of the State House, 
going from window to window, and asking all sorts of questions 
of their guide, who showed himself steady on all points. Bessie 
took a sincere liking to the young man, or rather boy, who, in 
spite of a preciseness of manner which made him appear absurd, 
at first, knew so thoroughly well what he was talking about. 

As Nathan took them home from the State House he led them 
down Beacon street. This is a beautiful street, making the north 
side of Boston Common. Where the Common ends, Charles street 
crosses Beacon street nearly at right angles. Near this corner, on 
land nOw built upon, or perhaps crossed by some street, was the 
cottage of Blackstone, who lived in Boston for six or seven years 
before Governor Winthrop and the settlers of 1630 arrived. 

They made their first settlement at Charlestown, on the other 
side of the river. The records of Charlestown say : " Mr. Black- 
stone, dwelling on the other side of Charles River, alone, at a 
place called by the Indians, Shawmut, where he had a cottage at, 



330 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



or not far from, the place called Blackstone Point, came and ac- 
quainted the Governor of an excellent spring, inviting and soliciting 
him thither." 

Blackstone's house, or cottage, in which he lived, together with 
the nature of his improvements, was such as to authorize the 
belief that he had resided there some seven or eight years. How 
he became possessed of his lands here is not known ; but it is 
certain he held a good title to them, which was acknowledged by 
the settlers under Winthrop, who, in course of time, bought his 




DORCHESTER HEIGHTS AND THE HARBOR. 

lands of him, and he removed out of the jurisdiction of Massa- 
chusetts, to the valley of the Blackstone River. 

Of Blackstone's personal history, Mr. Charles F. Adam.s makes 
this note : 

" He was in no respect an ordinary man. His presence in the 
peninsula of Shawmut, in 1630, was made additionally inexplicable 
from the fact that he was about the last person one would ever 
have expected to find there. He was not a fisherman, nor a trader^ 



THE FIRST DAY IN BOSTON. 



331 



nor a refugee: he was a student, an observer, and a recluse. A 
graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he had received Epis- 
copal ordination in England. In 163 1 he was in his thirty-fifth 
year. Probability would strongly point to him as Winthrop's- 
authority where Winthrop, in 1631, speaks of a species of weather 
record going back seven years since this bay was planted by Eng- 
lishmen." 




THE RECLUSE IN THE NEW TOWN OF PROVIDENCE. 



332 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXXVli. 



THE SECOND DAY. 



MEANWHILE Alice and Miss Lejeune passed the day very 
pleasantly going from one large shop to another, the re- 
sults of which were visible in a pretty walking suit of dark flan- 
nel bought ready-made and fitting admirably. Alice was impatient 
to put it on as soon as it came home, and as it arrived before 
six o'clock, and as the sight-seers came in late, she was already 
■dressed in it, and waiting for Bessie's approval. A new hat, gloves, 
boots and umbrella were added also. 

That evening a certain plan was laid out for the next day, in 
which every one agreed to join. It was settled that they should 
lunch down town with the gentlemen, and should take the elevator 
at the "Equitable " Insurance Company, so that Alice and Miss Le- 
jeune might have something to substitute for the view the chil- 
dren had had from the State House. This view is not as sweep- 
inof on the west as that from the State House. But on other sides 
it is equally satisfactory. And you can go up by steam, — a great 
matter if you happen to have passed forty years. 

" It is a pity," said Miss Lejeune, " that they have given up 
the restaurant at the top of the Equitable. I remember lunching 
there on a warm day one summer, and it was delicious to sit in 
a cool breeze, looking off upon the lovely harbor, and the little 
sails coming and going far below, while we ate our soft-shell crabs 
and ice-cream." 

They went instead to Young's, where, in the pretty and quietly 
ordered dining-room, their large party had a merry lunch. " Do, 



THE SECOND DAY. 



333 



papa," said Tom, "order 
oysters on the shell ; thei e 
is an R in the month, and 
Hubert has not seen any." 

"Is it possible?" said Mr. 
Horner. "To be sure, there 
has been no R in the month 
since he came." 

" What do you mean ? " 
asked the English boy. 

" Oysters are supposed not 
to be good in summer, and 
as all the summer months 
are spelled without an R. 
that makes a rule for not 
eating them." Large New- 
York oysters on the half- 
shell were brought, surpris- 
ing Hubert greatly by their 
size. 

After lunch Nathan took 
them to the head of State 
street, to the "Old State 
House." 

"This," said he, "is what 
the Philadelphia girl called 
the State street Meeting- 
house." 

He had brought them in 
a horse car, so that they 
saw the building from the 
southern side. The lion on 
one side and the unicorn 




ALICE MARTIN IN HUSTON. 



334 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

on the other, dance on their hind legs at the top, with the roof 
to part them. Nathan was careful to show Tom and the rest that 
as they looked up on the beasts they stood themselves on the very 
ground of the "Boston Massacre" of March 5, 1770. The Eng- 
lish troops were in a little semicircle on the north side of the 
street. Attucks, the mulatto, and the rest of the mob who stoned 
the troops and snowballed them, were in the street, or on the 
southern side. There were, then, no sidewalks. 

The lower part of the "Old State House" is now used for 
public offices. But the upper chambers are restored to much the 
condition in which they were when Sam Adams defied the Gover- 
nor there, and when Otis made his plea in the " Writs of Assist- 
ance cases." 

"Then and there," said John Adams, afterwards, " American in- 
dependence was born." 

"The Bostonian Society" occupies these halls, simply that they 
may be open to all visitors, and here the party found many curi- 
ous mementoes of Revolutionary and of older days, and were able 
to prepare themselves for their later excursions. 

Before the " Town House " was built, this spot was occupied as 
the market place, being the earliest in the town. The first town 
house was erected between 1657 and 1659, of wood. It was de- 
stroyed in the great fire of 171 1. In the following year, 1712, a 
brick edifice was erected on the same spot. This the fire of 1747 
consumed, and with it many valuable records were lost. The pres- 
ent Old State House was erected the following year, 1748, but it 
has undergone many interior changes, the exterior, however, pre- 
senting nearly the same appearance as when first erected. From 
1750 to 1830 Faneuil Hall was used as a town house, and the 
first city government was organized there. In 1830 the city gov- 
ernment removed to the Old State House, which was, on Septem- 
ber 17, dedicated as City Hall. But the City Hall has since been 
removed to School street. 



THE SECOND DAY. 



335 



Leaving the Old State House they passed down State street, 
where they had a chance to see the merchants who were " on 
'change," and to look in at the Merchants' Exchange, and by a 
short street leading north, came into the square between Faneuil 
Hall, •' the cradle of __ . 

liberty," as Boston 
people liked to call it, 
and Faneuil Hall 
Market. 

Peter Faneuil, a 
rich merchant of Hu- 
:guenot origin, told the 
town that he would 
l)uild a market house 
•on this spot if they 
would accept the gift 
for that purpose, and 
maintain it forever. 
"The town," by which 
is meant the town 
meeting, looked a gift- 
liorse in the mouth, 
and made some diffi- 
culty. At the end of 
3. stormy meeting, his 
proposal was accepted by a majority of only seven votes in a vote 
of seven hundred and twenty-seven. 

Mr. Faneuil set to work at once on the building, which, by 
the original plan, was to be but one-story high. But he added an- 
other story for the town hall, which has made his name famous 
to all New Englanders. The original hall accommodated only one 
thousand persons, being but half the size of that now standing. 
He died, himself, just as the building was completed, on the third 




EQUITABLE BUILDING. 



336 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND nOME. 

of March, 1743, and it was first opened to public use on the 
fourteenth of March of that year. The whole interior was de- 
stroyed by fire in January, 1763, and rebuilt by the town and State- 
In 1806 it was enlarged to its present size. 

Nathan made them look at the grasshopper, which is the weather- 
cock, which is selected in memory of the Athenian cicada. The 
Athenian people selected this as their emblem because they believed 
they sprang from the ground, and they supposed the grasshoppers- 
did. 

The people of Boston long since provided themselves with a much 
larger market house than Peter Faneuil's. When they did so, they 
gave up the market in Faneuil Hall, and used the basement for 
other purposes. But their lawyers, after a while, recollected that 
stirring town meeting, and the promise of the town to maintain 
the market "forever." Clearly enough, if the town meant to keep- 
the hall, it must maintain the market. So the butchers and fruit 
men were brought back again ; and Miss Lejeune did not fail to- 
buy some bananas for the party in the market, that they might 
keep Peter Faneuil well in their memory. 

The Historic Hall is over the market, and always open to visitors, 
and here the party spent half an hour in looking at the pictures. 
Mr. Horner told them of the last and only time when he heard 
Wendell Phillips there. It is not the largest hall in Boston, but it 
is still the favorite hall for any public meeting about some public 
interest, where people are not expecting to sit down. 

The gentlemen joined the party by appointment here, and they 
all went to lunch together. They then went up the Equitable 
elevator and mounted the tower, so that the ladies might see the 
sea view. And they finished the day's excursion by going into the 
Old South Meeting House. 

This old meeting house was twice as big as Faneuil Hall of 
the Revolution, so that the crowded town meetings of those days 
often adjourned to the Old South. As the patriots called Faneuil 




CITY HALL, BOSTON. 



THE SECOND DAY. 339 

Hall the "cradle of liberty," Governor Gage called the Old South 
the "nursery of rebellion." The religious society which formerly 
occupied it built, a few years ago, a new church in the western 
part of Boston, and sold this meeting-house to an association 
which wished to preserve it as a memorial of the history of Bos- 
ton. The sellers did not wish to have any opposition church estab- 
lished in the old building ; they therefore put a • provision in the 
deed, that for twenty years it should not be used for public reli- 
gious purposes. It is probably the only spot in the United States 
where, by the expressed" wish of a church, public worship is for- 
bidden. 

The travellers found a great deal to interest them in the meet- 
ing house, — relics of the past there preserved. The boys, indefatigable, 
obtained leave to climb up the spire, from which it is said that the 
English governor. Gage, saw the embarkation of his troops for 
Bunker Hill, and what he could see of the battle. 

The next day proved favorable for Nathan's plans, which in- 
volved a visit to Bunker Hill Monument and the Navy Yard. 

"I should like," he said to the girls, "to begin by taking you 
out to Concord, that you might see the bridge over the Concord 
River, and the scene of what we call Concord Fight. But if the 
day prove hot, it would have been tiresome, as we have the Monu- 
ment to climb. For that expedition one needs half a day, or 
better, a day. You know you would want to see Mr. Emerson's 
house and Mr. Hawthorne's." 

They started later, therefore, than the Concord plan would have 
required. A transfer at Scollay Square, the very heart of active 
Boston, put them in a Charlestown car. In Scollay Square stands 
very properly a statue of Winthrop, the founder of Boston, and its 
first Governor; as at the foot of the street stands Sam Adams. 

Nathan explained to the girls, when they came to river and 
bridge, that at the time of Bunker Hill battle there was no bridge. 
The English army, when it attacked the hill, had to cross in 



340 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



boats, and he showed them on the east, the Une the boats took, 
landing where the Navy Yard now is. The forces landed there 
and waited through a hot day before the attack. The battle was 
fought on a hot June afternoon. 

After they came to Charlestown, a short walk brought them to 
5 the top of the hill, where 

a large green park takes in 
all the ground of the his- 
toric Redoubt. A bronze 
statute of Prescott seems to 
welcome the visitor. 

By an ascent even longer 
than that they made at the 
State House, they climbed 
the Monument, and earned 
their sight of the panorama 
from its top. 

The party had given them 
a note to introduce them to 
the commander at the Navy 
Yard on their return. It 
proved that he was absent. 
But they needed no pass nor 
introduction. They were very 
courteously received ; and 
as there happened to be a 
ship fitting out with stores 
for the Mediterranean Sta- 
puLPiT WINDOW IN THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH. tjon^ Bcssic had hcr chance 

to see "a three-masted ship," nearly ready for sea. 

"But after all," she said, when Nathan very kindly attracted her 
attention to the craft, "this is not what I mean. Papa, we have 
seen plenty of these passing at sea ! " 




THE SECOND DAY. 



343 



Mr. Horner found that Nathan Turner was thinking of one 
thing, and Bessie of another. 

"A three-masted schooner," he explained, "is like any other 
schooner, with the addition of a third mast. They are, I believe, 
steadier with the third mast, and better fitted to carry the loads of 
stone and lumber which Maine furnishes to the other States." 




NKAR I'HK WHARVES. 



344 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



NAHANT. 



SATURDAY proved to be a warm day, and it was pro- 
posed at breakfast that they should carry out Nathan's plan, 
and that all hands should go to Nahant, the rocky peninsula which 
bounds the outer harbor on the northeastern side. 

So they took the horse car and "transferred" at Summer street 
for the ferry-boat, which would take them to the Lynn Railroad. 
They could have taken the Eastern Railroad, but the Narrow Guage 
Road (so called) runs along the water's edge, and the sail is more 
attractive. 

Miss Lejeune begged off from this expedition. She had made a 
visit to Nahant during the summer, where she had hosts of friends. 
"I shall be sure to meet some of them," she said, "and in that 
case, every one at Nahant is so hospitable, they will insist upon 
lunching or dining you all. You will have better fun incog." 

So the young people had their first sniff of sea air from the 
boat which crosses from Old Boston to East Boston, where the 
railroad begins. Bessie had chances enough to see "ships with 
three masts," brigs, schooners, sloops, barks, brigantines and bark- 
antines, all which the learned Nathan explained to her. After a 
voyage of a mile or two they took the Narrow Guage Railway and 
flew along Chelsea Beach, which gave a fine ocean view, and 
more of the glory of the infinite sea than the steamboat had 
done. At Lynn they found public carriages waiting for the drive 
to Nahant. 

Mr. Horner, with unwonted extravagance, said that Nahant looked 



NAHANT. 



345 



like the open hand of a giant who had been struck down in the 
sea, and that Nahant Beach was his arm. A very thin arm he 
had, — a mere thread-paper arm, — for a big hand. For the beach is 
only a strip of sand and gravel about two miles long, washed by 
the ocean on both sides. At the southern end rise, abrupt and 
bold, the rocks of Nahant. They are mostly of trap-rock, which 
has been forced by some volcanic effect of the fiery times, up 
through the hissing sea. They have a reddish color, with stripes 
of black stone, even harder than the rest. And the perpetual 
washing of the sea has 
worn out clefts and chasms 
of every strange outline 
and form. 

One of these is the 
Swallow's Cave, a long 
passage through wet rocks, 
covered above by rocks, 
through which at low tides 
adventurers can clamber. 
Another is the Spouting 
Horn, where, at half-tide, 
a sea heavily thrown in 
by a stiff eastern gale, 
bounds back in spray and 
water, as if indeed a sea- 
god had thrown it up in 
a great fountain. But the 
glory of Nahant is not in 
any one of these sights- 
It is the glory of the infinite ocean. Southeast and west you 
liave the sea, and it is no wonder that in this perfect sea-climate 
so many people are glad to make a summer home. 

Mr. Horner met, by accident, a Boston friend, after they had 




SAMUEL ADAMS' STATUE, WASHINGTON STREET. 



346 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUXD HOME. 



crossed the beach, who husbanded their time for them in visiting 
different points, and before the afternoon closed, asked them to 
come back to town in his yacht. 

This they accepted with delight, especially as the steamboat 
which usually plys between Nahant and Boston was not running. 
So, after all, the party were indebted to the hospitalities of Na- 
hant, to the amusement of Miss Augusta, when she heard of it. 

From the deck of the Sylph, its owner showed them that nearly 
south of them, a string of little islands shielded the harbor, in a 

measure, from eastern gales. 
Of these the three most im- 
portant are the three Brew- 
sters, on one of which is the 
outer light-house. The yacht 
first ran by these. Then she 
turned inland, and he pointed 
out to them the villages of 
Hull, which on the southeast 
protects the bay, as Nahant on 
the northeast. He bade the 
helmsman bring the vessel up 
at Fort Warren, and the young 
people had then a chance to 
see the arrangements which 
a great fort makes to repel 
an enemy. And then, as the 
sun went down, down, they ran swiftly up to Boston, saw the 
State House and Bunker Hill Monument against the evening glow, 
and landed after a day of thorough satisfaction and variety. 

Mr. Turner left the party at the door of the Vendome, to re- 
turn home for the night. He had been with them hitherto at the 
hotel, but he lived out of town, and felt that he must report to 
his family. 




GOV. JOHN WINTHROP, SCOLLAY SQUARE. 



NAHANT. 



347 



"Be sure you come to-morrow!" called Bessie, as he turned 
the corner from the hotel, flourishmg his cane at a street car. 

"How sleepy I am!" said Bessie, after dinner, as she threw 
herself on a sofa in their parlor. 

"I am more tired than sleepy," said Alice, "my feet ache so. 
The sidewalks are so hard." 

"This is the first time, then, Alice," said Miss Lejeune, "that 
you have been in Boston?" 

"The first time I was anywhere except East Utopia," replied 

Alice 

The arrival on the scene of the Horner family was an event of 
importance to Alice. The country girl had suddenly been intro- 
duced to a series of experiences wholly different from the quiet 

tenor of her life. 

The next day was Sunday. So much chance was there for a 
day of rest. But at breakfast it proved that there were one or 
two ecclesiastical landmarks which were to be counted in with the 
others, and that, with perfect gravity and reverence, the young 
people had arranged to unite their sight-seeing with the rehgious 
services of the day. The party all together made an addition not 
unacceptable to congregations not yet crowded; for although it 
was October, summer wanderers had not yet returned. 

The first point was King's Chapel. 

The chapel, last of sublunary things 

That shocks our senses with the name of King's. 

c^nch is Doctor Holmes' description. It is in the very heart of 
active Boston. After the Revolution it was long called "The 
Stone Chapel," for in those early days stone churches were rare 
and nothing bore the name of King. Royal biscuit was then called 
"President's biscuit." But after people were sure that no King 
Georc^e would return, the Chapel people, who were no longer in 



S4S 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



the habit of praying- for the royal family, returned to " King's 
Chapel" as the historical name of their church, and found again 

the neglected gilded crown 
and mitre, which had once 
adorned the organ, and re- 
stored them to the places 
from which they had been 
removed. After the service, 
which interested all the 
young people, they remained 
in the church to look at 
the curious old monuments. 
They were specially inter- 
ested in that of Mrs. Shir- 
ley, the lovely wife of Gov- 
ernor Shirley. She died just 
as he was fortifying Boston 
against the largest fleet 
which France ever sent 
across the seas. This is the 
fleet of Longfellow's ballad : 




CHRIST CHURCH, SALEM STREET. 



For the admiral D'Anville 

Had sworn by cross and crown, 
To ravage with fire and steel 

Our luckless Boston 'I'cnvn. 

While Shirley had the whole army of Massachusetts on Boston 
Common, and was bringing every resource to bear to resist the 
enemy, his heart was wrung day by day by the sickness and the 
death of the young bride, whose bust the children saw, and whose 
epitaph they translated. 

Mr. Horner told them that when the King's Chapel was built 
there had been no quarries of stone opened in New England. 
The stones for this building were split and hewed from bowlders. 



N AH ANT. 



34» 



By the time it was finished it was currently said and believed 
that there was not stone enough in the province for another 
church as big. He took them to the back of the church and 
showed thenC on a little green, Franklin's statue, placed in what 
was the yard of the schoolhouse where he studied as a boy. 

King's Chapel was not popular with the Puritan inhabitants of 
Boston"! And, because the lower windows are square, and look like 
port holes, the street boys of a century and a quarter ago nick- 
named it "Christ's Frigate," somewhat irreverently. On the other 
side of the street was once the schoolhouse where John Han- 
cock and Sam Adams studied. And Nathan showed them where 
the "coast" was in winter, which was obstructed by the English 
ofBcer whom the schoolboys called to account for his violation 
of their inalienable rights. 

They went to church with a friend whom they had met on the 

yacht coming from 
Nahant the day be- 
fore, in the morning, 
and in the afternoon 
Bessie and Mr. Tur- 
ner went to Christ 
Church, which is the 
oldest church build- 
ing in Boston now 
standing on the 
ground where it was 
built. It was the 
second Episcopalian 
church erected in 
Boston, and was built 
in 1723, several years 
before the present Old South. It is a brick edifice, and has long 
been known as the "North End Church." In its day was con 




king's chapel, tremoni street 



250 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

sidered one of the chief architectural ornaments of the North End. 
The old steeple was blown down in the great gale of 1804, f-'iH- 
ing upon an old wooden building at the corner of Tileston street, 
through which it crushed, to the consternation of the tenants, who, 
however, escaped injury. The steeple was replaced from a design 
by Charles Bulfinch, which carefully preserved the proportion of 
the original. Its chime was the first in New England, and be- 
gan to play its charming tunes in 1744. 

The Bible, prayer books and silver now in use were given, in 
1733, by King George the First. The figures of cherubim in 
front of the organ were taken from a French vessel by the pri- 
vateer Queen of Hungary, and presented to the church in 
1746. There is an interesting bust of Washington in the church 
From the steeple of this church the historic sexton hung out 
the lanterns which warned the patriots on the other side of the 
river that an expedition was starting from the English camp, 
against Concord. 

"One if by land, — two if by sea," says Mr. Longfellow, whose 
history of those days is more likely to be remembered well than 
any other. That steeple, as has been said, was blown down in 
1804. 

As they walked to the car, which was to take them home, Na- 
than led Bessie through the Copp's Hill burying ground. Copp's 
Hill has never been cut away. Fort Hill is wholly leveled, and 
Beacon Hill partly so. These were the three hills which were 
the landmarks of old Boston. 



A SEA BATH. '^'^ 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



A SEA BATH. 



THE next day, Monday, was deliciously warm, one of those 
left over from summer, which drop down sometimes even 

late in October. 

Bessie, ever since her first glance at the ocean from the top 
of the State House, had been longing for a salt bath, and Alice, 
who had never bathed in the sea, shared the longing, for she had 
begun to swim already in fresh water, and everybody told her 
that salt water was more bouyant, making it much easier. 

But the way was beset with difficulties, and if Bessie had not 
laid her plan before speaking of it. she would have found it diffi- 
cult to resist the objections which were raised when she broached 
the subject at the breakfast table. 

-Bathe after the first of October!" exclaimed a wiry little old 
lady who sat at the same table. She was a Boston woman, and 
the incarnation of conventionality. "We never think of such a 

thing," she said. 

"I think we can manage it," said Bessie. "We know our way 
about so well now. Alice and I can take the Narrow Guage Rail- 
way, and stop at one of those little stations on Beach. I saw 

bathing-houses to let at every one of them, as we passed the 
other day, and we have our bathing dresses." 

As she said this a smile of intelligence passed between her and 
Alice, for there had been a little doubt on the part of Alices 
mother about the wisdom of packing Alice's bathing-dress. 

-My dear," Bessie had said, "you just put it in. It is always 



352 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 




safest to have it. And I should take mine to Siberia in January.'* 
So there was no difficulty on this score. But old Mrs. Fletcher 

raised her hands and eyes. " Beach, — but, my dear Miss 

Horner, nobody bathes 
there. In fact, I have 
been told that the rail- 
way itself is terribly vul- 
gar. Is it not narrower 
than common ? " 

Bessie bit her lip, more 
with vexation at herself 
for broaching the subject 
in such company, than 
with amusement at the 

FROM THK FERRY-BOAT. qUCStlon. O p p O S i t i O H 

from this quarter, however, brought her an unexpected ally, for 
Miss Lejeune said suddenly: 

" My dear Mrs. Fletcher, you are quite mistaken ; Miss Swimmer, 
whose mother was a Claveridge, you know, one of the William P. 
Claveridges, goes there on purpose, every summer, just for one 
bath. Of course, you know, one would not stay there ; but espe- 
cially at this season, when the crowd has left, — " 

"At this season, — well, yes, it might do," mumbled the old 
lady, and retired vanquished from the field. 

The Homers had a good laugh, and the girls had their bath, 
passing the whole morning in the expedition. Miss Lejeune went 
with them and watched them from the piazza of a deserted hotel. 
The tide was high, the waves came creaming along the shallow 
beach, the water was cold, but delicious. Alice thought she had 
never enjoyed anything so much in her life. The occasion was 
always afterwards referred to as Mrs. Fletcher's bath. 

Nathan Turner's expedition arranged for the day was to Dorchester 
Heights, to see the view of the harbor from that point. The 



A t;EA BATH. 353 

party were scattered all the morning, and had agreed to lunch 
solidly, or dine, in the middle of the day, at any place where 
they happened to be, and to assemble at some central point late 
in the day. 

Accordingly, about five o'clock, they started for South Boston. 
"Take any car for City Point," was Nathan's final direction as 
the party separated. " Ask for the Reservoir, and we will meet 
there." 

" Dorchester Heights " is simply the name which only old-fash- 
ioned people would understand, of the hills in what is now 
"South Boston," now surmounted by the "Blind Institution," and 
a public park, in which is one of the city reservoirs. 

From the hill they enjoyed the spectacle of the harbor, white 
with the sails of hundreds of yachts, and all alive with the 
movements of the steamers as they went out, just before sunset, 
on their voyages to every port of the seaboard, not to say of the 
world. 

These high hills completely command the harbor, in a military 
sense. Why the English generals did not take possession before 
Washington did, no one ever knew. That was the sort of imbe- 
cility George the Third got by appointing men to office because 
they were his relations. When, at last, the vi^inter of 1775-76 
broke up, and no ice had formed strong enough for an attack on 
Boston over the ice, Washington seized these hills. By the road 
now called Dorchester Avenue, which Nathan Turner showed his 
friends, he sent from the camp in Roxbury the men and muni- 
tions. It was all done by night. On the morning of the fifth 
of March the Americans had built a fortification which surprised 
the English oflficers in Boston as that on Bunker Hill had sur- 
prised them nine months before. " It is like Aladdin's lamp," 
wrote one of them. 

General Howe's first plan was to assault the works, as Gage 
had assaulted those at Bunker Hill. Howe sent an attacking 



354 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



force to the fort held by him on the island. But a storm made 
this attack impossible. Ward, the commander of the American 
right wing, strengthened his ranks. Thomas, the general in com- 
mand on the Heights, asked nothing better than an attack. But 
Howe, at the last, saw that the venture was madness. He en- 
tered into negotiations with Washington, and, a fortnight after, 
withdrew fleet and army. For several months there was not an 
English soldier on American soil. 

Before they left the park, which now takes the place of the 
fortification, they looked at the tablet of stone which commemorates 




THE BEACH. 



the history. They found the name of the mayor who put it up, 
but no allusion to General Ward who planned the work, or Gen- 
eral Thomas who carried it out. Such, alas, is fame! 

Nathan Turner was surprised to find Hubert, and even Augus- 
tine, well versed in the cause of these historical events. He was 
not called upon to tell the story, but only to point out places, to 
an intelligent and interested audience. 

"I wish I had been in Utopia with you," he said. "You must 
have had first-rate books of reference." 



^-^' 




A SEA BATH. 357 



"We bad Professor Bruce," replied Hubert, "and he is better 
than a whole library." 

When they left the hill the sun was going down, in a red 
mist, promising another hot day. The evening was so soft and 
warm that they lingered until bedtime in the public garden, sitting 
upon benches where they could watch the people who walked 
about in crowds under the electric light, and the boats gliding 
about on the water. 

When they told Mrs. Fletcher, the next morning, how they had 
spent the evening, and how pretty it was, she said, "Ah, indeed? 
but nobody does it, you know." Alice thought there must be 
a great many nobodies in Boston, if all the happy people she 
"had seen in the garden counted for nothing. 

The next day, when they visited the Historical Society, Nathan 
showed his cousins the original gold medal which Congress gave 
to Washington in honor of this victory. It was designed by a 
French artist, and struck in Paris. It represents Washington 
seated on his horse, on Dorchester Heights, as the squadron re- 
tires. It bears the proud motto : 

" Hostihns primo FugatiSy'* 
which may be translated: "The first Flight of the Enemy." 

Nathan's programme would have been incomplete without a trip 
to Cambridge. Bessie and Miss Lejeune had both made visits to 
Philip, in his college room at Harvard, but Tom had not seen 
it. "What a pity," said he, "that Philip is away, so that we 
cannot go to his room." 

"How soon he will be back, now," Bessie replied; "only three 
days more." They supposed he was already upon the water, hav- 
ing sailed the week before. 

At the station of the Providence road they found a street car 
waitino- to take them from Park Square to Harvard Square. The 
ride takes a short half-hour. At Harvard Square they were on 
one side of the College Yard, as the region is called, which n. 



358 A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 

colleges of more pretence would be named the campus. Buildings 
of all ages and all aspects fill it, from the venerable brick of 
old Massachusetts, built near two centuries ago, down to the last 
devices of modern architecture. 

First of all, Nathan led them to the Library, where they looked 
at some of the curiosities ; and here they met a classmate of 
Philip's, who recognized Mr. Horner, and did the honors of his 
room ; so they saw a little of the college life of the students. 

Next they went to Memorial Hall, where are the portraits of 
the old worthies of the State and college, the trophies of many 
base ball victories, and, most interesting of all, if you go at a 
meal time, some five hundred of the young men of to-day, eating 
with a good appetite ; and then to the Agassiz Museum, which is so- 
skilfully arranged that they will all date back to that hour's visit 
a clearer knowledge of the great classifications of natural science. 

The young people declared that they were not tired even then. 
So 'after lunch, they went up to the Botanic Garden, stopped 
at the Observatory, and crossed to see the house which was lately 
the home of Longfellow, and in the Revolution, that of Washington. 

As they all returned to town in a horse car, Mr. Horner said 
to Miss Lejeune, " I fancy, Augusta^ you have never done Boston 
in this sight-seeing fashion." 

"No, indeed," she replied, "and I dare say half the people in 
Boston have not themselves. "If," she added, "I should ever go 
abroad again, I shall be able to converse with more credit to 
myself about the landmarks of Boston." 

" If you ever go abroad again ! " exclaimed Tom. " You know,, 
aunt Dut, you are saving up now for your next excursion." 

At this they all smiled. 

Hubert was silent. He knew that he was soon to return to. 
Europe, and for him to cross the ocean again, separated anew 
from friends who had become very dear to him, was no attractive 
prospect. 



SCATTERING. -^59 



CHAPTER XL 



SCATTERING. 



IT was quarter of eleven o'clock, before noon, and Nathan Tur- 
ner and Alice Martin were walking up and down the side- 
walk outside the Boston & Albany station. 

"It is to be hoped they will not be late," remarked Mr. Tur- 
ner, in his precise way, looking very carefully at his watch. "Ex- 
actly fifteen minutes to eleven; I always allow a quarter of an 
hour at the station for the regulation of baggage." 

«I do not believe they will be late," replied Alice. "Mr. Horner is 
an excellent traveller." 

"Still, it is well to be accurate," he said, adding, "and so you 
are to remain in Boston, Miss Martin.?" 

"Yes; is it not wonderful.? Miss Lejeune has so kindly ar- 
ranged everything for me. It has been the dream of my life to 
spend a winter in Boston, at school, and now it has come to 

pass ! " 

"Have you friends in Boston.?" he inquired. 

"Not one; but I am to board with some pleasant people, and 
I hope I shall make friends,— but here they are!" 

Two carriages drove up to the end of the station where bag- 
gage is received. All the party were there, and all the parcels. 

"Ah, you arrived before us;" said Mr. Horner, shaking hands 
with Nathan. "Thank you, again, for taking care of Alice, and for 
all your kindness to us. Tom, if you will look after the ladies, I 

will buy the tickets." 

"Had not I better see about drawing-room seats ?" asked Tom. 



360 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"Yes, that will be better; and, Hubert, take,— ah! you have it,— 
Miss Lejeune's bag. " 

" Your umbrella, papa," said Bessie, handing it to him. 

They all passed into the handsome new station, and after a few 
moments, through the gate to the train, Alice following them, 
though she was to be left behind. Now that the moment of part- 
ing had come, she began to be frightened at the prospect. 




KOSTON AND ALIiANY DEPOT, KNEELAND STREET. 



"Keep up a good heart, Alice," whispered Bessie, who had 
come to be very fond of the girl, "and be sure and write me about 
everything." 

" Good-by, Mr. Turner," Tom was saying, and, "Good-by, Nathan," 
said Miss Lejeune ; " our little scheme has worked admirably, has 
it not.?" 

" T thank you most sincerely," he replied, turning out his toes 



SCATTERING. 361 

more than ever, "for the great favor I have enjoyed in making 
the acquaintance of Mr. Horner and his family." 

"Well, Alice," said Hubert, "I hope we shall meet again some 
time. Will you keep this to remember our quarrels by ? " To her sur- 
prise, he pushed a long narrow box into her hand. She found it 
afterward to contain a pretty little pin in the shape of a dagger, 
which, with Miss Lejeune's assistance, and Mr. Horner's approval, 
he had bought for a parting gift. 

The car was cleared of all but passengers, and the train rolled 
out of the station. As the party settled themselves in their com- 
fortable turning seats, Mr. Horner said: 

"Here is all our mail. We were lucky not to miss it, for it 
has the foreign letters." 

There was something for every one, even Augustine, and for some 
time all were absorbed in the contents of their respective enve- 
lopes. Then a few comments were exchanged, and the letters 
passed from one to another, that each might read every one. 

When Bessie had done hers, and saw that her father also had 
iinished the last flimsy sheet, she came and sat down by his side 
on one of the low carpet foot-stools which accompany the chairs. 
"You see, papa, what mamma says in her letter?" 
"Yes, my dear." 

"And may I tell you my plan?" she asked. 
"I long to hear it, Bessie," he replied. 

She glanced at Miss Lejeune as if to summon her aid, and 
that lady leaned a little forward, the better to join the discussion. 
"Aunt Dut and I, papa, think we had all better go over at 
once, to be with the rest of them. I long to see Mary," she 
went on. while tears came in her eyes, "and there is no need 
for mamma to come home. And then, do not you see, we can take 
Hubert along with us, as far as we go?" 

Her father looked at her for a moment with no expression on 
his face but a half-smile, then he said, 



362 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



"Now, Bessie, may I tell you my plan?" 

" I long to hear it, papa," she said, repeating his own words 
with stronger emphasis. 

"It is precisely the same as yours." 

The boys all looked up at the sound of laughter and approval 
which followed this remark, and Tom came from his remote seat 
to find out what was going on. 

"There is only one difficulty, —and that is Tom, what shall 
we do with him " — Bessie was saying as he came up. 




SrPNKRY RY IIIK WAV. 

"Do not allow Tom to be a difficulty," said he. "I know very 
well what you were talking about. Tom will stay in New York 
and study his lessons like a good boy, while the rest of you go 
to mamma and Mary." 

"And I will stay at home," said Miss Lejeune, "and take care 
of Tom." 

"Now that, aunt Augusta, is out of the question," said Bessie; 
"for you must come with us." 

"You must go with them," said Tom. "I shall do very welL 



SCATTEEING. 363: 



Philip will be at Cambridge, and we can meet whenever we feel 
solitary." 

'♦Never mind, then, about me, now," said Miss Lejeune; "that can 
be settled later," 

Hubert was looking eagerly from one to another while this talk 
was going on, without half understanding it. The rapidity with 
which this American family formed a plan for crossing the Atlantic 
was something to which he never became familiar; The present 
one brought a wonderful hope to his heart, and he exclaimed, in 
a joyful manner, 

" Then I shall not have to cross alone ! " 

"No, my dear boy," said Mr. Horner, "I have been hoping for 
some time that we could manage to spare you that." 

By and by they all subsided into silence, each one behind the 
pretence of a book, revolving sunny schemes for the future opened 
by the new arrangement. 

Tom was the only one whose prospects were not of the coulcur 
dc rose; his mind was at leisure enough to allow him to talk 
with Augustine Stuyvesant, that he might not feel shut out of the- 

general joy. 

"Well, old fellow," said Tom to him, "we have had a pretty 
good summer, have we not ? " 

"Yes, indeed," said Augustine; "I hate to go back. I wonder 
what will become of us all winter." 

To everybody's surprise, while the train was stopping at Spring- 
field, Mr. Stuyvesant stepped into the car. The meeting was a 
purely accidental one, for he had missed Mr. Horner's letter tell- 
ing him at what time to expect Augustine in New York. 

"I came up from Newport to Boston," he said, "and should 
have looked you up, but this boy did not give us the name of 
your hotel in his letter. I was hastening back to New York, in 
order to be on hand when my goods were returned to me," he 
continued, smiling at his son ; " I have been in one of the rear 



364 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



cars all the way ; they told me I could have a drawing-room seat 
in this one at Springfield, but not sooner." 

His arrival was most opportune, as he could now join the family 
counsels. 

"Tom, my boy, spend the winter with us," he cried; "we will 




ALONG THE SOUND. 



take the best of care of you. We have just engaged a furnished house 
for the winter." And he went on to detail the street and number 
of it. 

Close upon Mr. Stuyvesant, entered the porter with straw-baskets 
containing a plentiful lunch previously ordered by telegraph. 

Little tables were put up between the chairs, a cloth spread 
upon each ; and forth came from the baskets knives, forks, nap- 
kins, tumblers, pickles, and the food for a substantial meal. 
Hubert was pleased with this feature of American travel. 

The journey between Boston and New York is very pleasant, 
by the road and the train which the Horners had chosen. The 
scenery is pretty all the way, especially along the Sound, and in 
the end of October, as they saw it, was brilliant with rich tints 



SCATTERING. 



365 



of autumn foliage. After crossing the Connecticut River the road 
follows its banks for a time. 

"Only think!" cried Hubert, "that this is our river we have 
been swimming in and rowing on all summer." 

"Is it.?" exclaimed Augustine, amazed; "it is much bigger 

here! " 

"And so are you much bigger than when I saw you last," said 

his father. Augustine had grown in every way wonderfully through 

the summer, and was now a stout-looking boy. 

They arrived in New York about six o'clock, after dark, and 

drove at once to the hotel which always served as a home for 

them when their own house was closed. As they tumbled out on 

the broad sidewalk, light as day with the white glare of electric 

lamps, a tall young gentleman ran to meet them. It was Philip, 




IN CONNECTICUT. 

who, after one of the wonderfully short passages often promised 
and sometimes made by modern steamers, had just arrived. 

"Why, Philip, you here.'" they all exclaimed. "We did not 
dream of expecting you before to-morrow ! " 

" How long have you been here ? " asked his father. 



-366 



A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. 



" About a couple of hours. They told me in the office here you 
-were coming by this train." 

Then when they were all assembled in the public parlor waiting 
for their rooms, Philip said: 

" And here, sir, is a telegram which had just come for you. I 
ventured to open it." 

He was smiling. Mr, Horner pulled out the long, narrow strip 
•of paper from its yellow envelope and read aloud, while they all 
gathered about him : 

Pau, October 20, 18 — 
Mary Horner Hervey, aet. sixty minutes, sends her lore to grandpapa. 

Clarence Hery«y. 




To begin with let every child be given a general knowledge of the earth, and what is on it^ 
I it, and about it. — Huxley. 

Illustrated Science for Young Folks. 



UNDERFOOT. 

BY 

LAURA D. NICHOLS. 

With an introduction by E. C. BOLLES. Quarto, illustrated, 235 pp., boards, $i.2C 

The earth's treasures are unfolded in " Underfoot " in a light that cannot fail to arrest the 
attention of any child. Geology is commonly presented in the dryest of garbs, but here it is 
clothed in a most attractive manner. 

FOUR FEET, WINGS AND FINS. 

By 

MRS. A. E. ANDERSON-MASKELL. 
Quarto, illustrated, boards, $1.25 ; cloth, I1.75. 
In this elegantly illustrated work of 636 pages 
on zoology, is embraced a book that will find 
thousands of admirers among the little folks. 
This is a book that helps the boys to investi- 
gate for themselves, giving such wise sugges- 
tions and examples as will make the woods, 
fields and animal life have a language intelli- 
gible to all who have their Eyes Right, as did 
the hero of the story. The author is a lover 
of boys, and his stories never fail to interest 
them. 

EYES RIGHT. 

BY 

ADAM STWIN. 

Quarto, boards, illustrated, $1.25; cloth, ^1.75. 

OVERHEAD. 

BY 
ANNIE MOORE & LAURA D. NICHOLS, 

With an Introduction by 
LEONARD WALDO, of Harvard CoUege Observatory. 
In no sense is this a text-book, but as Prof. 
"Waldo says, " it covers up a primer of astronomy under the guise of a story." 
%* For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent postpaid on receipt of price, by 

D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 
30 & 32 Franklin St., Boston, 




* A series of charming pictures, full of life and unusually natural." — Churchtnan, New York. 

" All readers will endorse the highest praise we can betsow on ' Five little Peppers, and how 
They grew,' they will contmue to grcnv, we are sure, in the number who read their story witli 
interest. It is one of the best told tales given to the children for some time. The perfect re- 
production of child-life, in its minutest phases, catches one's attention at once." — Christian 
Advocate, Pittsburgh, Pa. 







f 



FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS, 

and How They Grew. 

"**;.-'. „ ^ BY 

MARGARET SIDNEY. 

Author of "the pettibone name," " half 

year at bronckton," "what the 

seven did," " the lost 

HARE," ETC. 

l2mo, cloth, fully illustrated 
by Jessie Curtis. 410 pages, 
$1.50. 

Of this story recently reis- 
sued in London by Plodder & 
Stoughton, the Christian Ob- 
server says : " How the Five 
^ little Peppers did grow is a per- 
fect mystery, with all their hard- 
ships poverty, trials and battles- 
with life ; as Mrs. Pepper said^ 
'They were not brought up, 
they just scrambled up.' Many 
delighted little readers will„ 
we hope, get various, useful 
and practical hints as to how 
to get happiness and con- 
tentment out of each other, 
when they have not the luxu- 
ries, or even the comforts of 
life, as the Five Little Peppers 
THE YOUNGEST OF THE PEPPERS. did. How things brlghtcued 

up to them at l-ast we will leave our young friends to find out, by reading the book for them- 
selves, with the prediction that no one of them who reads it will be disappointed." 

•»* For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid upon receipt of price, by 

D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 
30 & 32 Franklin St., Boston. 



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